Found
by karie2055
Summary: AU. He couldn't leave her, a complete stranger, alone in the rain. There was just something about her that called out to him. A multi-chapter story for GrayLu week 2014, each chapter consisting of each prompt. Rated T: For Language and mild-violence.
1. Chapter 1: Cold

_**Cold [kohld]**__** \- **_(4) lacking in passion, emotion, enthusiasm, ardor, dispassionate. (5) not affectionate, cordial, or friendly; unresponsive.

* * *

_**Chapter 1**_

She was numb; she couldn't feel anything – not even the pain that came with her aching heart. She looked to her right and saw him happily chatting with their friends while she – she didn't even want to think about it.

"Lucy, are you all right?" asked Mira when she saw the blonde still sitting at the bar.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she replied looking down at her drink, when had her voice become so cold? "I'm just not feeling it today, Mira, sorry."

The older girl smiled sadly. "I understand, if you'd like, why don't I take you home? I'll be done with my shift in an hour or so."

"No, don't worry about it, Mira," she replied with a small smile - even though it never reached her eyes. "I don't want to be a burden to you."

Mira frowned a bit, she didn't want to let Lucy go home all alone at night, but her shift didn't end for another hour and she desperately needed the extra money to pay off Lisanna's college tuition. She looked around their group of friends. Natsu, Gajeel, and Levy had already drunk more than a glass or two. Erza and Jellal were without a doubt their ride so that only left Lucy's boyfriend, Richard, who happened to be enjoying himself as he did not notice how isolated his girlfriend was from the group.

"Well, I'll see you around, Mira," she heard Lucy say as she grabbed her purse from the counter and left a bunch of bills next to her drink. "Keep the change," she smiled, her eyes still didn't have their usual sparkle.

Before Mirajane could stop the blonde, she was already more than halfway through the door. She wanted to desperately grab Richard by the collar of his shirt and shake him senseless, but she couldn't, she was working now - and _he_ was a paying customer.

She looked at the watch on her wrist. _'Only 45 minutes more and then I can strangle the idiot,'_ she thought to herself before going back to the bar to attend new customers and keeping Lucy's tip.

* * *

Once she was out of Mira's prying blue eyes, Lucy let out a small sigh as her vision blurred. How could he have done this to her? They were supposed to be true to one another, to care for and to cherish - but apparently, she was the only one that thought that. As she walked away from the vivacious atmosphere her friends had made, the scene she had witnessed shortly after Richard had arrived played in her mind over and over again.

* * *

_Lucy arrived at the bar faster than she thought she would. Her friends were already inside and she could hear them all the way from entrance. It was a small get together they had planned for a while now to celebrate 10 years of friendship. Lisanna wasn't able to make it because her final paper was due and she wanted it to be perfect! She paid the taxi cab driver and entered with a smile on her face._

_Today was going to be the best day ever! Today marked her 2 year anniversary with Richard, who, as she looked around, wasn't there yet. A bit disappointed that she arrived before him she joined her friends in the relaxed and friendly atmosphere they had created for themselves. After she ordered her drink from Mira, her phone vibrated, she looked down and saw it was a text from him._

_-Just reached the parking lot, hope you guys haven't started without me ;)_

_She smiled and replied. _

-_Not at all, just setting the mood for your arrival, your highness ;)_

-_Haha. Be there when I find a spot._

_She excused herself from her friends and went outside to the parking lot, remembering how they met. She remembered it perfectly, she was in her English class when he entered, a new transfer student to their university, his looks had caught her eyes first, then as they got to know each other better, his intellectuality captured her mind and his way of being had her heart._

_When she reached the parking lot, she opened her mouth to call out to him, but was stopped by what came next._

_Her boyfriend, the one it had taken her months to convince her father that he was __**the one**__, was kissing another woman (passionately she might add) against his car. What hurt her wasn't so much the kissing – actually it did, but not as much as the words she heard next._

"_How much longer do I have to wait?" asked the mysterious woman when they pulled apart._

"_Not much. Soon she'll be saying yes and then I'll get you everything you want," he replied._

"_All right, but don't forget that you belong to me, and __**only**__ me."_

"_Of course, you are the one and only woman I will __**always**__ love." _

_Lucy turned into the corner and stood with her back against the wall. Her heart was pounding fast and she felt the world around her crumble._

* * *

At one point in her walk, she looked up at the sky, as if asking for answers to her dilemma. Why? What did she do wrong? Why did this always happen to her?

* * *

Gray was walking back to his house from the convenience store. He was able to get his sister the ice cream she had been bothering him for days now. As much as he hated to admit it, he spoiled her rotten – well, maybe not to that extent, but close enough. He opened his umbrella when he felt drops from the sky hit his nose. As he crossed the street, he saw a blonde girl staring up at the sky. The same person on his way _to_ the convenience store.

'_I shouldn't, I really shouldn't,_' he thought as he got closer to her. '_And I'm doing it, damn it!_'

He pushed his umbrella away from himself and towards her. "Hey, you'll catch a cold if you stay out here," he said lightly.

The girl turned around, her eyes expressionless. "Who-?"

"Here," he pushed the umbrella further towards her. "You're gonna need this more than me."

She didn't take it; she only stared at him – or rather past him. Gray sighed lightly, he grabbed her hand and put it on the handle and left it there. He noticed her hands were soft, but they were unusually cold. He stopped himself for a moment, how did he know they were colder than usual? For all he could know, she could be like him, cold hands and all, but for whatever reason, he just _knew _this wasn't how she normally was.

"Thank you, but I don't really need this," she replied bringing him back to reality and handing him back the umbrella.

"I insist, you take it, my house is just around the corner anyway," he pushed it further to cover her head once more.

"N-no, I really couldn't! I wouldn't know how to return it afterward!" she tried once again, her voice had more life in it, and her eyes had a rising sparkle that wasn't there before.

Gray chuckled a bit. "Well, in that case, I believe this is rather pointless," he took the umbrella from her and closed it. "I mean look at us, we're both drenched!"

Her eyes widened before she took in her surroundings for the first time. For the first time since she left the bar, she let out a sincere laugh – a laugh so contagious that Gray couldn't help but laugh along with her.

Once their laughter died down, Gray stuck out his free hand. "I'm Gray Fullbuster, pleasure to meet you."

"Lucy Heartfilia, the pleasure is all mine," she shook his hand – he quickly noticed her hand was warmer now, still cold but less so than the abnormal one he felt moments ago.

"Since a pretty girl such as yourself wouldn't normally be here dressed the way you are, I'm guessing you are either lost or a hooker," he joked.

Lucy blushed at his comment. "I-I'm not a hooker!"

"I know," he chuckled. "You're too nice to be one, and you don't give off that kind of air anyway. So that leaves with being lost, if you'd like I don't mind taking you home," he replied. He was about to take out his phone to call his sister, but Lucy's response stopped him,

"I don't really want to go home…"

The sparkle in her eyes disappeared once more as she looked down at the ground. When she thought about it, her apartment would be the first place he would go to, and he was the last person she _ever_ wanted to see.

Gray felt a bit awkward, he didn't really know what to do in this kind of situation – he had never really been in this kind of situation before actually! He rubbed his neck and awkwardly asked, "If…if you'd like you can stay at my place."

She looked back up at him quickly. "What! I-I can't do that!" her face turned red. How could she do that? To go to a stranger's home – let alone a man's!

"I didn't mean it like that," he tried to quickly explain. "I mean – if you _want_ to, you don't have to, I wouldn't want you to be out here, or anywhere considering the way your dressed," he quickly looked away from her the moment his eyes landed on her attire.

She looked at him questionably before looking down at herself. Her white shirt hung to her figure and was - embarrassingly enough - see-through. She hugged herself tightly. "I-I guess – I hope I'm not intruding on you," she said.

Gray smiled at her before diverting his eyes for a moment and handing her the umbrella and forgotten bag with ice cream to her. "H-hold this."

She grabbed the items quickly when he pushed them towards her. He quickly took off his flannel shirt, leaving him in his black undershirt, and handed it to her. "It might be wet already, but it'll help."

She stared at the item now offered to her for a while before taking it and handing him back his stuff. She quickly put it on and buttoned up the first couple of buttons. "Thank you, Gray," she said giving him a small smile. He returned the smile and offered his hand. "Come on, my house is just around here."

She graciously took his hand, which she noticed was cold, not an unusual cold, but a reassuring cold – how paradoxical.

The two walked in silence in the rain, a silence that was neither awkward nor hard to break, just calm and comfortable. Soon they reached their destination, a two-story cream colored house that had more flowers than she expected with a simple, short white fence.

"Well, this is home," he replied with a smile. He let go of her hand and pushed the gate open, letting her walk in first and closing it after him.

As she walked the short path to the door, she noticed the variety of flowers growing, there were roses, dogwood flowers, daisies, there was such an assortment that they probably matched up to the ones back at her father's home. Gray searched for his keys and opened the door. They were greeted with the warm air that was produced from Gray's AC.

"I'm home!" he called out to his sister. He took off his shoes so as to not wet the floor. "Sorry if it's a little messy, but we weren't really expecting a visit around this time."

'_We?_' she thought to herself but smiled a little none the less as she too took off her boots. "It's no problem, thanks again for letting me stay. Are you sure I'm not intruding?"

"I'm positive," he reassured her. Before he could continue any further, a voice from atop the stairs called out to him.

"Gray-nii-chan! You're back!" A girl in her late teens came down the stairs wearing gray sweatpants and a simple pink cotton shirt; she had brown eyes and dark blue hair. "Gray-nii-chan you lost your shirt again," she pointed out normally.

"I-I didn't lose my shirt, Wendy," he replied. "At least not this time," he murmured, he handed her the bag he had been holding. "Here's your ice cream."

"Aw!" she whined. "It's all melted!"

"Sorry about that, I got caught up with someone," he pointed behind him. Wendy leaned to the side to see her brother's shirt being worn by a beautiful blonde woman, her face had an expression of understanding.

"Oh, I see," she turned to her brother innocently. "You stopped to flirt with a beautiful woman again, and forgot about your cute little sister," she pouted.

"W-we weren't flirting," they both said at the same time, Lucy's face heated up.

"Wendy this is Lucy, Lucy this is my little sister, Wendy," he said introducing the two.

"It's nice to meet you," said Wendy bowing properly.

"It's nice to meet you, too," replied Lucy as she bowed lightly.

"Lucy is going to be staying with us for the night," he continued. "Think you can spare her a change of clothes?"

"Sure," she replied. "Follow me, upstairs, Lucy-san."

The blonde nodded and followed the young girl up the stairs. She turned back to Gray to see him staring at them both and mouthed a quick "thank you" and continued up the stairs.

Gray stood at the entrance of his house for a good a couple of minutes before coming back to his senses. What on earth was _wrong_ with him? He not only invited a stranger into their home, he happily passed her on to his younger sister for a change of clothes, _and,_ knowing Wendy, she would be using one of their showers. He shook his head, and remembered the look on her face when he saw her; it was a look he knew too well. It was one of lost, grief, and worst of all, betrayal. Once he saw that face, there was no way in hell he was going to leave her alone like that in the rain.

He walked up the stairs to his own room and was about to enter when Wendy called out to him, "Gray-nii-chan!"

"Yes, Wendy?" He turned to her

"Lucy-san might have to borrow one of your shirts, the ones I have are a bit small on her," she replied.

"Why don't you lend her one of Ultear's?"

She raised an eyebrow at him. "Don't you remember the last time you lent a girl one of her shirts?"

The two thought back at the memory and shuddered.

"Y-you're right," he went inside and pulled out a simple gray cotton shirt and tossed it to her.

"Thank you!" And with that she left.

He picked out his pajamas for the night and went in to take a shower himself, he needed to ponder over the fact if this was a good idea or not.

* * *

When Lucy had gotten out of the bathroom, she felt relieved, refreshed and renewed. Wendy's black pajama shorts were a bit tighter than she what she was used to, but Gray's cotton white shirt hung loose around her figure. A small white towel was draped around her shoulders preventing her back from becoming wet.

"Wendy-chan, I'm done with the shower," she said as she knocked on the younger girl's door.

The girl in question opened the door with a smile. "Okay, thanks. Your clothes are in the drying machine downstairs. Again, I'm really sorry I couldn't find a shirt of mine that could fit you."

"It's all right, you guys are doing more than enough for me," she replied sincerely.

Wendy wanted to ask Lucy why she couldn't go home, but she didn't want to stick her nose in where it didn't belong. "Well, I'll go take a shower now so I can make dinner. Make yourself at home for the time being!"

"Thanks I will," she was about to go her way down the stairs when she turned again. "Wendy-chan?"

"Yes, Lucy-san?" She asked opening her half closed door.

"Do you mind if I borrow your phone charger for a minute? I'm afraid my phone died."

"Sure," she smiled and handed her the electronic charger.

"Thanks again," replied Lucy.

She made her way down the stairs and plugged the charger near the television set. Her phone's logo came into view quickly and the charging battery blinked shortly after. She dried her hair while she waited for her phone to have at least 3% before turning it on.

Once she did, her phone blasted with instant beeps. The thing kept vibrating so much that she just left it on the coffee table until it was done. When it stopped, she picked it up and scrolled through her messages, some were from Richard, but the rest were from her friends.

Natsu:

_-Lucy, where did you go?_

_-Hello? Lucy, you're not picking up the phone, are you all right?_

_-Luce, this isn't funny anymore, call us, we're worried about you!_

_-Come on Luce, call me when you can!_

Levy:

_-Lu-chan, where are you? :(_

_-Lu-chan, did something happen?_

_-Why aren't you picking up? D:_

_-Gajeel and I are worried, please pick up!_

Erza:

_-Lucy, I called your apartment. How come you aren't picking up?_

_-Hey, we're all worried. Jellal even called your dad! Are you okay?_

Jellal:

_-Lucy, your dad says you're not with him, are you all right?_

Mira:

_-I swear Lucy, if something happened to you, I won't forgive myself!_

_-I talked to Richard, he doesn't know where you went, are you okay?_

_-Please tell me you're okay, I'm really worried about you!_

Richard:

_-Mira told you left, why did you leave?_

_-Lucy, come on don't ignore me._

_-Luce, call me, I'm really worried._

_-Babe, I'm waiting for you at your apartment, please open the door._

_-Lucy, I know your home, come on let me in!_

That was the last message she read. She was right in not going home, but she hadn't realized how much she had made her friends worry. Her phone beeped once more.

Levy:

_-LUCY, IF YOU DON'T CONTACT ME IN ANY WAY OR FORM, I AM CALLING THE COPS! SO PLEASE! ANSWER!_

She smiled a little and pressed the call icon next to Levy's name. She only heard a single ring before her ear was blasted by her best friend's voice.

"_LU-CHAN WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN? DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW WORRIED WE WERE? WE EVEN CALLED YOUR DAD – YOUR __**DAD**__ FOR CHRIST'S SAKE!"_

"I-I'm sorry, Levy-chan, I didn't mean to make you guys worry…"

"_SORRY MY BUTT_!" she heard Levy sigh heavily on the other line. "_Why haven't you been picking up your phone? We've been calling for hours now!_"

"S-sorry, I think my phone died and I didn't even realize it."

"_Really? Because it rang more than enough times to know it wasn't off!"_

"L-Levy-chan, I swear I'm fine, I just needed time to be alone."

"_Then why didn't you tell us!"_

"I-I guess, I may have forgotten…"

"_Well__-_"

"_Hey, is that Lucy on the phone?_" she heard Natsu ask through the background.

"_Yeah, she finally called – hey! Natsu! Give me back my phone!_"

"_Luce, are you all right?_"

"Yeah, I'm fine, sorry for making you guys worry."

"_It's okay, just next time leave a note or something! If it wasn't for Mira, we wouldn't have known you had actually left!_"

"Again, I'm sorry."

"_So what happened?"_

"I-I don't walk to talk about it right now…"

"_Hey, I thought friends didn't keep secrets from one ano – __**OW**__!_"

"_Here you go, pipsqueak,_" she heard Gajeel say. She could only imagine what had just happened.

"_Thanks, Gajeel-kun!_"

"Ne, Levy-chan, mind if we talk tomorrow? I don't really want to talk about what happened today, okay?"

"…_okay, but at least tell us where you are. You're not at a love hotel - are you?_"

"_WHAT!_" she heard the others through the line.

"N-NO!" she replied blushing, her face turning red. "I-I'm at a friend's house, so don't worry."

"_Why aren't you at your apartment?_"

"Tomorrow, please?"

"_Okay, night, Lu-chan._"

"Night, Levy-"

"_Oh, before I forget! Call your dad, he's really worried about you, sorry!_"

"It's no problem, thanks," she pulled the phone away and hung up.

She sighed. '_Tomorrow is going to be a __**long**__ day,' _she thought to herself, she put her phone down as she caught sight of a reflection in the light.

She walked towards it and noticed it was a line of photos, the one that had caught her eye particularly was one where she saw a much younger looking Gray and Wendy along with an older man and woman with dark hair and eyes along with another woman who looked like the other one but younger and with longer hair.

"That's our parents along with our older sister," a voice spoke from behind her making her jump.

"S-sorry, I didn't mean to snoop around," she apologized.

"Don't worry about it," he pointed to man in the picture. "That's my dad," he then pointed to the older woman. "He and Ur married after my mother passed away due to a weak body."

She wanted to give her condolence but he continued. "When they married, Ultear and I became siblings," he pointed to the other woman. "And shortly after, Wendy arrived into the world. However, just 10 years ago, they died in a plane accident." He took a long pause.

"I'm so sorry…"

"It's all right," he smiled a little. "We managed to hang by then, but now we're fine."

She nodded.

She heard a sizzling sound from the kitchen and noticed that Wendy had managed to slip between her conversation on the phone and Gray and started cooking dinner in the kitchen. She took a step back from Gray and grabbed her phone.

"I better call my dad; he's probably worried sick knowing that I'm not with my friends."

"Right, I'll help Wendy with dinner," and he walked away to the kitchen.

She dialed her father's personal number and waited for him to answer.

"_Lucy?_"

"Hey, dad…"

"_Lucy! Do you have any idea how worried I was? Jellal-kun called me in the middle of work telling me you disappeared._"

"Sorry, dad, I didn't mean to – it's just-! Something happened with Richard and I didn't really feel like staying…"

"_You know I hate saying this – but I told you so, I __**told**__ you he was bad news!_"

"I know. I'm sorry, daddy."

She heard him sigh from the other side of the line. "_Just…where are you? I'll go and have someone pick you up right now._"

"I'm at a friend's house, so don't worry about it."

"_Lucy, I'd feel better if you were here at home with me…_"

"I know, but it's pouring outside…" she knew her father would get the reference.

"_I understand, but tomorrow morning I'll be sending someone with the car to pick you up._"

"All right," she replied defeated, there was no changing her father's mind. "Ano, the address is…" she looked back Gray for the information.

"Tell him, it's just south of Yanagi Station on the east side of Magnolia High. It's the only house that's cream colored."

"_Lucy, is that a man's voice?_"

"Y-yeah?"

"_That's it! I'm going there right now!_"

"N-no! Dad, I'm fine, Gray and his sister are taking really good care of me, really!"

"_...All right, but we'll be having a talk tomorrow morning, you hear me, young lady?_"

"Yes, sir…"

"_Very well. Goodnight, Lucy._"

"Goodnight, daddy…" she hung up and put her phone back down on the coffee table.

"Daddy?" she heard a smirking voice say.

"Y-yeah! And?" she stuck out her tongue at him, he chuckled. "Just how old are you, Lucy?"

"Twenty-two."

He almost spit out his drink. "Really?"

"Yeah?"

"I thought you would be older."

"Like how old?"

"I don't know, twenty-five, twenty-six?"

"Ew, I'm not that old!" she said jokingly.

"Dinner's ready!" called Wendy as she put down the last plate.

"Itadakimasu!"

The three ate in a brief silence before Wendy broke it.

"So, Lucy-san…What do you do?"

"Well, at the moment I'm working on getting my getting my degree in Restaurant and Lodging Management, since I'm working at one of my father's hotels. But I've been trying to find a job as an English teacher since that was what I majored in."

"Wow, that's incredible!"

"Thanks."

"My brother works in the finance department of a famous hotel, while Ultear-nee-chan is an administration director."

"Really? That's incredible!"

"T-thanks," he replied a bit embarrassed. "Although, Wendy, here, is planning on becoming a pastry chef!"

"Gray-nii-chan!"

"If you're planning on becoming a pastry chef, I can help introducing you to some people."

"That would be amazing!"

"So how come your family is all into hotels and stuff?"

"Our parents used to own a small motel before, and at one point or other, we wanted to help them out – it helped us know what we wanted to do in the near future, what about you?"

"Same, I wanted to be part of the family business even though my father said I didn't have to, but seeing both of my parents do all they could to make others day happy, just inspired me."

Gray nodded.

They finished their dinner and washed the plates, allowing Wendy to go upstairs and study for her finals. Once the two finished, Gray turned on the TV while Lucy sat on the far end of the couch – _away_ from him. At more than one point in the middle of the comedy show they were watching, her phone rang. Each time, she would look at the caller ID before putting it back in silence.

By the fifth time she did that, he had to ask. "Who is it? A blocked number?"

"No…though maybe I should put him on block," she replied scrolling down her contact list and doing just that.

"Is it a stalker? Because if it is, I can help," he volunteered.

She giggled. "At this point I wish it was a stalker. And how would you be able to help?"

"Just hand me the phone the next time it rings, and you'll see," he chuckled before getting serious. "So if it's not a stalker, than who is it? Because I'm pretty sure, you wouldn't be doing that your friends."

She looked down at the piece of technology in her hands. "It's…it's my boyfriend – or rather _ex_-boyfriend."

"Ex?"

"As of four hours ago…" she felt the numbing sensation come back.

He knew he shouldn't ask, but he couldn't help it. "What happened?" he scooted a bit closer to her – as if he was approaching a scared animal.

"I don't really want to talk about it," she replied bringing her knees up and hugging them close to her chest.

"If you don't, you'll have an even harder time tomorrow," he replied getting closer to her. "It's all right if you want to cry," he patted her head lightly. "Wendy probably already went to sleep, so it's just you and me."

She looked him through her teary eyes; there was something about him that made her comfortable, safe…but what? Before her mind could register it, she was telling him her pathetic love story; how they met, how he captured her heart, how much effort she put into convincing her father, how she introduced him to her deceased mother, and how he had played with her heart all along.

By the time she was finished, she was bawling her eyes out in his arms, arms that were so cold to the touch but warm to be in. He rubbed her back comfortably, only focusing on her breathing until she calmed down. When she did, she didn't pull away, she just stayed there. This is what she had been looking for the whole night, a comforting set of arms that would listen to her troubles and would not take advantage of her.

"Thank you, Gray," she whispered still settled in his arms.

"Anytime," he replied hugging her tighter. As if God had delayed the next sound that rang throughout the living room, her phone played a distinct ringtone. She stayed in her position allowing Gray to grab her phone.

_Blocked Number._

"I really, _really _don't want to talk to him now," she said looking at the phone in his hands before she buried her face in his chest.

"Then don't," he replied making up his mind. "_I_ will," he said as he pressed the answer icon on her phone.

"What?"

"_Lucy! About __**time**__ you answered! I've been calling you for hours! Would you mind opening the door? People have been giving me the evil eye for the past 2 hours! Come on, open up already!_"

"Listen here, _dick-face_," said Gray in a cold tone. "If you ever call this number again, I will guarantee you that I will hunt you down and kill you."

"_Is that a threat? Who are you and why do you have my girlfriend's phone?_"

"Believe me that isn't a threat, but a promise. As for who I am? That's none of your business and if you don't know, then figure it out." He hung up and lightly tossed the phone to the coffee table once more.

"Did you just…?"

"I did," he said once he realized what he did. "I'm so sorry," he said with wide eyes.

"Don't be," she replied, putting her head back down. "Thank you," she said with a small smile.

He stroked her hair. "You're welcome, Lucy."

As the minutes passed by, he realized she fell asleep on his chest. She looked so peaceful and serene that he didn't have the heart to move. He grabbed the control remote and turned off the TV, he leaned over to the side where he had been originally sitting and turned off the lamplight. He settled comfortably in the position Lucy set herself in and drifted to sleep.

* * *

**I hope you guys enjoyed the first chapter, don't forget to review :)**

**~Karie**


	2. Chapter 2: Night

_**Night [nahyt]**_ – the period of darkness between sunset and sunrise.

* * *

_**Chapter 2**_

When Lucy awoke the next day, her butt felt a bit sore, but aside from that she was comfortable. She snuggled closer to her bed when she felt it breathe. Wait – beds don't breathe!

She opened her eyes and was lightly blinded by the incoming rays of light that peaked through the window's curtains. Memories of the previous night flooded back to her, at first she felt her heart ache, but then she relaxed when she remembered Gray's generosity and willingness to threaten her ex.

Ex…yeah, that's what Richard was. He was no longer anything to her, just a cold-hearted bastard who broke her heart.

"Hmm," she heard Gray groan as he woke up. He opened his eyes slowly, greeted by warm, chocolate eyes. "Morning, princess," he said.

"Morning," she replied smiling before leaning back into his warm-cold chest. Before he was able to grasp what the blonde he was holding did, he heard a loud scream from upstairs.

"Kya!"

"Wendy?" he yelled.

The two stood up faster than they should have and had a hard time maintaining their balance for a few seconds before rushing up the stairs.

"Wendy! Are you all right?" he shouted as he opened the door to his sister's room, who happened to be in the middle of undressing when he barged in.

"Get out, you pervert!" she said throwing a clock towards him with a force so strong, that Lucy wondered how it only left a bruise in his face and not a broken nose.

"Aw, man," said Wendy. "I really did now. Gray-nii-chan, this is all your fault!"

"My fault, what did I do?"

"Turn around, idiot!"

"Agh, sorry!"

"I'm so used to you waking me up that I forgot to set up my alarm clock last night! Now I'm late! I won't even have time to eat breakfast! This is going to be the _worst _day _ever_!"

"Well, that'll teach you not to rely too much on others – _oof_!" a pillow hit his face.

"G-Gray, why don't you start breakfast, and I'll help Wendy getting ready."

"You got it!" he said dashing out of the room before Wendy threw something harder at his head – like her literature textbook.

"What? No, I can't ask you to do that!" replied the young girl.

"Nonsense! You helped me last night, now I'll help you."

Seeing there was no moving Lucy's stubbornness, she sighed in defeat. "All right…"

While Wendy dressed herself in her uniform, Lucy changed into her clothes from last night and dialed a number she knew too well.

"Hey, it's me," she said as she entered Wendy's room once more. "Around what time will you be here?...Okay, perfect!...No, I'm fine, I just need to stop somewhere it's all…Thanks, see you soon."

"Who was that?"

"Don't worry about it; let's focus on getting your hair untangled for now."

* * *

Downstairs, Gray cooked up a simple breakfast. Wendy wasn't entirely wrong about today, he had overslept as well, luckily for him it was his day off – thank God! He put the toast down as he put bacon and eggs in a plate for Wendy, another for Lucy, and one more for his. He had to thank the stars once more when he realized Ultear still wasn't back from her business conference or else she would make him make a healthier breakfast with more fruits than carbohydrates.

He heard the two coming down the stairs.

"Breakfast is ready!"

"Great!" said Wendy as she sat herself down and started eating.

Gray stood rooted in the spot gaping at his little sister. '_What the-_'

Lucy sat down next to her and started eating. '_Hmm, bacon and eggs, I haven't had you in forever!_'

She looked up from her plate to see Gray still standing by the archway holding his cup of coffee.

"Gray? Aren't you going to eat breakfast?"

"T-there is no way in hell I'm letting her out of this house looking like - like _that_!" he pointed at Wendy.

"What! Why?"

"She looks cute!"

"Exactly!"

The two gave him a confused look, he explained himself. "She looks _way_ too cute, what if someone attacks her!"

"She's going to school…"

Wendy wanted to confront her brother about the fact that she was a growing adult – a fact he had yet to grasp, but once she saw the clock she almost choked on her toast and ate a bit faster.

"Besides, don't you think you're over exaggerating? She's a girl who needs to show off more of that pretty face."

"B-but-!"

"Done!" she exclaimed as stood up and put her dish in the sink along with her now empty, glass of milk.

"I'm off to school!" she shouted as she quickly put on her school shoes and bolted out the door.

"Wendy-!"

Gray rushed to the door, in his hands was his sister's bentou. He saw her not even a step away from the door, frozen in place.

"Wendy, what-!" His voice left him as he saw what was in front of him.

"Oh! You're here already!" said Lucy as she side stepped Gray and walked towards the long limousine in front of their house.

"T-this is your ride?" asked Gray.

"Yep!" smiled Lucy naturally. "Though I wish they would have brought mine and not my dad's…"

"Lucy-sama," said the voice of the chauffeur as he stepped out of the vehicle. "Good morning," he bowed towards her and the other two.

"Ano," said Wendy still shocked.

"I told you, Lucy is just fine, Loke," pouted Lucy.

"Loke?" said Gray shocked when the chauffeur he took off his hat.

"Hey there, Gray," he greeted nonchalantly. "I knew this area felt familiar!"

"No time for that now!" replied Lucy as she took the bentou from Gray's hands and handed it to his sister. "We have to get to Magnolia High - _pronto_!"

"Of course," he replied opening the door for the two females. "Please enter so we can reach our destination as quickly as possible."

Wendy, still in shock, entered the long limo and sat there frozen while Lucy turned to Gray.

"Thanks, again for everything," she said as she sat next to his sister and rolled the window down. "I'll have her at school in the blink of an eye." She turned to Loke. "To Magnolia High, and step on it!"

Loke put on a pair of leather gloves before putting his hands on the steering wheel and replying, "You got it, Lucy!"

Gray saw the speeding vehicle leave his house with one hand in the air, his mind still not registering what just happened.

"…bye?"

* * *

Lucy rolled up the window and turned to the frozen girl next to her. "Wendy-chan?"

"Yeah?" her eyes still not leaving the road in front of them.

"Are you okay?"

"Y-yeah," she turned to her, eyes still wide. "I've just never thought I'd ever ride in one of these," she gave the older girl a wide smile.

Lucy smiled back.

Before she could comment, Loke said, "First stop, Magnolia High." He got off the car to open the door for Wendy on the other side.

"T-thank you, Loke-san," she replied as he helped her step out.

"You're welcome," he responded and closed the door behind him before returning to his spot behind the steering wheel.

"Wendy-chan?" asked Lucy as she rolled down the window.

"Yes, Lucy-san?"

"Here," she handed her a card. "That's my card, if you ever need anything, just call, text or leave me an email."

"I-I can't really-!"

"Take it," she reassured. "You never know when you'll need it." The blonde heard the school bell ring. "Now get to class before you're _actually_ late."

"O-okay! Thank you, Lucy-san," she replied bowing low.

"It's no problem," Lucy replied as she rolled up the window once more and left the premises.

As they drove to her father's home, Lucy _had_ to ask.

"_So_…how do you know Gray, Loke?"

"Gray and I are university buddies," he replied. "My question is…how do _you_ know Gray?"

"Oh, you know, here and there - wait did you say _university_ buddies?!"

"Yeah?"

"So he's _older_ than me?"

"Uh, yes?"

"Oh my god," she said to herself. She thought Gray was around her age. "So, you're telling me he's twenty-_four_?"

"Twenty-six, actually."

"Oh god," she sighed. '_I just spend the night at a twenty-six years old man!'_ she thought to herself. '_Thank you, Wendy-chan for being younger than him!_'

"Why? Did he do anything to you?" she saw him grip the steering wheel tighter.

"N-No!" she replied a bit too quickly. "I-I mean he hugged me but-"

"He hugged you!" they steered off course for a second.

"Well, more like comforted-!"

"Comforted! Why would you need any comforting?"

"B-because…" she took a deep breath. "Richard…has been cheating on me…"

He turned around to face her.

"He's been _what_!" he growled, thank the stars they were at a red light.

"Y-yeah," she replied.

Gray was right, it was easier saying it now. The more she talked about it, the less it hurt her – because she knew she was worth more than that.

"I'm gonna murder that piece of shit the next time he tries to get near you," he said turning back around to face the traffic.

Lucy giggled. "There's no need. Gray already promised him that."

"Then I don't have anything to worry about, except that I hope he'll call me when he decides to fulfill that promise," he chuckled.

After driving for a whiles, the two made it to the Heartfilia Residence.

"Welcome back, Lucy-sama," said the head butler as she stepped out of the limo.

"Thank you, Capricorn," she said as she walked through the open doors.

"Welcome back home, Lucy-sama!" welcomed a pair of rows of maids.

"Thank you, it's good to be home," she replied, Capricorn at her side. "Is my father still home or did he already leave for work?"

"He left a note saying he might be arriving late at work, he couldn't hold still yesterday, Lucy-sama. You really put him – and all of us - through a fright."

"I see…I'm sorry, I didn't mean to just disappear."

"That is all right, we're just glad to have you back home," he said as they walked to her father's study.

Capricorn knocked on the wooden double doors, entering when he earned an "enter."

"Jude-sama, Lucy-sama has returned home," he stated allowing Lucy to enter.

"Please give us some time alone, Capricorn."

"As you wish," and closed the door.

"Lucy!" he exclaimed holding his only daughter in his arms. "Do you have any idea how worried I was?"

"I'm sorry, daddy," she replied hugging her father tightly.

"If you _ever_ need to be alone, just leave a note, a voice message, even a _text_ message will suffice."

"Okay," she replied nodding her head, her father never liked receiving text messages, so the fact that he even suggested it told her that she had really scared him.

"Dad! I heard Lucy is back home!" someone exclaimed as the doors barged opened.

"Laxus!"

"Laxus, I've told you many times to knock before you enter," he scolded his son.

"Sorry, I'm just so relieved," he turned to his sister. "Do you have any idea how much you made me worry?" he asked pulling her cheeks. "You made cancel my date! _Again_!"

"I'm _sowwy_!" she apologized through her pinched cheeks.

He glared at her playfully before letting go of her cheeks. Lucy rubbed her cheeks lightly from the sting they had just been caused.

"Now, Lucy, would you mind explaining what happened?" asked her father.

She sighed as she nodded her head and sat at one of her father's office chairs. After explaining what she saw, and what she did after (omitting the part that she fell asleep and was comforted by Gray – there was no way she was going to take that chance again, especially after Loke's reaction), she looked up to see their faces. If there was ever a time when her father and brother looked the same, it was this moment right now.

While Laxus had more muscle mass, the two still looked equally frightening. Their noses flared and she could just see their eyes twitch with each breath.

"A-ano?"

"I'm gonna _strangle_ him," said Laxus standing up from his seat and pacing around the room, she turned to look at her dad; she noted that while he looked like he was taking it a bit better than her brother, the twitch in his eye said otherwise.

"I," he started before he took a deep breath. "I am going to go to work now." Lucy blinked back, say what now? Laxus turned to his father shocked. "Because if I don't, I mind end up doing something I wouldn't regret!" and with that he grabbed his coat and left the two of them dumbfounded.

"Capricorn, I'm off to work!" they heard him exclaim as he made his way to where Lucy had been dropped off at not too long ago.

"Did he just-?"

"Yeah…"

The two looked at each other before Laxus excused himself to go to their training room, stating that he didn't want to "break something so valuable it would take him his retiring payment to payoff."

"Lucy-sama, your friends are here, would you like for me to direct them to the tea room?"

"Yes please, tell them I'll be down soon," she answered. Why couldn't they have arrived earlier? That way she wouldn't have to repeat the story _so_ _many_ times! She sighed and left her father's study to go to her room and change her clothes into something much more casual and comfortable.

* * *

Wendy looked at the card in her hands, school turned out to not only be better, but also more lively than usual. Thanks to Lucy dropping her off, she was able to make to her first class with time to spare _and _with enough time to review her notes for her exams. She felt confident in them and was more than glad that this was going to be her only year taking Government.

Wendy looked at herself in her mirror, Lucy was right, she really did have a pretty face. Her friends at school said so too, and they said she looked cuter than she normally did – even her dense childhood friend Romeo said so as well! Which made it a win-win situation for her part. She sighed as she once again stared at the card in her hands.

'_I'll give it to Gray-nii-chan_,' she thought to herself. She stood up from her seat and looked at her clock, 9:06 pm – her brother should still be up. She reached his door and knocked. "Gray-nii-chan?"

"Come in, Wendy," he replied.

She entered the room and found it dimly lit with papers all over the place, a couple of boxes here and there, and his computer on his bed with what seemed like 200 different programs were open.

"Whoa! What happened here?" she asked.

"Oh, you know the usual," he turned to her as he took off his glasses. "Turns out, Ultear will need to stay a while at her business conference. Something about a snowstorm or something, I don't know, I wasn't really listening," he said shaking his head.

"Why? Thinking too much about Lucy-san rather than your own onee-chan?"

"W-what!" his face turned red.

"Ha! I was right!" exclaimed Wendy happily.

"Yeah, yeah," he waved her comment away. "Anyway, I know you didn't come here to ask about my distractions, what's up?"

Wendy handed him the card. "This is Lucy's card, she said I could use it to contact her if I ever needed something."

"Then why are you-?"

"I know you guys just met yesterday."

"How did you-!"

"The obvious fact that; one, she was dressed as if she came from a get together; two, she didn't know what you did for a living; and three, your stupid face when her limo was in front of our house."

"Hey! My face isn't stupid," he murmured.

She giggled. "Besides, I know you want to ask her how she was," she pushed the card more towards him. "Come on, take it Gray-nii-chan; my hand's getting tired!"

"Okay, okay," he replied. "I get the picture." He took the card from her and let her leave his room. "Wendy?"

"Yes?"

"Thanks," he smiled at her.

"You're welcome," she replied. "Besides if I don't push you, you won't ever get a girlfriend and you shall be alone for all eternity!" she laughed closing the door behind her.

He laughed at her antics, she wasn't exactly wrong. He only ever had one other girlfriend whom he had a long time relationship – and that was _way_ back in high school.

He looked down at the card and started to think about his next move.

His next move? Where did that come from? He shook his head before looking at the spot Wendy had been, she was planting too many of her ideas in his head. He didn't like Lucy that way! He just met her! Not to mention, she just _broke up_ with a bastard – and although he knew _his_ name, there was no way in both heaven and hell that he would call him by that, he wasn't worth it.

He thought about writing an email to her, but then that would require him to send more than just a basic how are you. A text would do fine, but he didn't really like to text that much…or was it that he just wanted to hear her sweet voice? Oh! There, he did it again!

'_Damn it, Wendy!_' he thought to himself.

That just left him one last option, to call. He wouldn't exactly be up to anything – it was simply a faster way to communicate to her than through email or text. Right?

He grabbed his cell phone from his desk and dialed the number carefully; he patiently waited for her to answer,

"_Hello?_" she said in a careful voice

"Lucy, it's me, Gray."

"_Gray! How did you get my number?_"

"Wendy gave it to me."

"_Ah, I see…_"

"Did I call at a bad time?"

"_Just a bit-_"

"_Lucy who are you in the phone with?_"

"_Is it that jerk, Richard?_"

"_If it's him, give me the phone-_"

"_Wait it's not – Lisanna!_"

"_Listen here, you bastard, if you ever come near Lucy every again, I promise you I won't hold back Natsu this time! Oh! And I can assure you my sister is looking for your sorry ass, she may look like an angel – but deep down she's a devil…You hear me!_"

"Y-yes?" he said a bit afraid.

"_Lisanna!_"

"_You tell him!_"

"_Don't forget to add that I will hunt him down myself!_"

"_Erza!_"

"_I said __**did you hear me**__?_"

"Y-yes!" he exclaimed.

"_Wait a minute, that doesn't sound like dick-head…_"

"_That's because it isn't!_" he heard Lucy say, there was a bit of struggle from the other line before he heard her voice once more.

"_This is Gray! The one who __**helped**__ me!_"

"_Oh!_" they said in understanding.

"_Sorry about that Gray-kun._"

"…_Please forget everything you just heard now, specially that part about my sister!_" he heard the girl known as Lisanna say.

"Hey, no harm done," he said as he picked up the papers on the floor. "Though it's reassuring to know that Lucy has such scary friends to protect her," he said lightly making the girls on the other line giggle.

"_Anyway, any reason you called?_"

"Just wanted to make sure you were all right," he replied sincerely.

"_Aw!_"

"_That one's a keeper right there, Lu-chan!_"

"_Levy-chan!_"

"_Excuse me for a minute,_" he heard her say, there were more noises going through but once that was over he heard her close the door to someplace. "_Okay, now we're good!_"

"…I was on speaker wasn't I?"

"…_Yeah. Sorry!_"

"Hey, don't worry about it, any reason why I've been cursed and hunted down for?"

"_I told them about me and Richard, they reacted a whole lot worse than my dad did, though he did say that he needed a distraction as to not do something he wouldn't regret._"

"Remind me never to get on your father's bad side."

"_Noted!_"

"So…where are you right now?"

"_In my bathroom._"

"Why?"

"_It's the only place where they won't overhear my conversation – and were the door isn't as easy to jimmy the lock._"

"Ah, I see…"

"_Yeah…_"

The two listened to each other through silence. '_Maybe, I should have texted her instead._'

"_So…what have you been up to?_"

He snapped out of his train of thought. "Nothing really, just getting everything ready for my meeting tomorrow."

"_In that case, good luck at your meeting,_" she said happily.

"Thanks," he rubbed his head. '_Don't do it Gray, just don't-_' "Are you doing anything next week, Lucy?" _And_ he did it. He face-palmed himself when he didn't hear a response anytime soon.

"_N-no, not really, why?_"

'_Great…think, Gray, THINK! _'

"Oh, umm, Wendy's school's having their annual school festival, I was wondering if you wanted to come along?" he paused and waited for her response, realizing that what he said sounded like, he quickly added. "I-I mean to come and support Wendy's class! I heard they were doing a café, and if you want you could invite your fri-"

"_Sure, I'll go!_"

He almost dropped the papers her was holding. "R-really?"

"_Yeah! Though I don't know about my friend's, I'll have to ask them._"

"Sure, not a problem!"

"_Great!...I'll text you later?_"

"Yeah, definitely!"

"_Okay! Then, goodnight, Gray._"

"Night, Lucy."

He closed his phone with its cover, before throwing himself on his bed – almost dropping his laptop in the process. He stared up at the ceiling smiling like a teenager who had just asked the girl her liked on a first date –

'_Wait, __**what**__!_'

He sat quickly as he realized what he just referred himself to.

"It's not a date…only Lucy and I going to support Wendy together with a bunch of her friends who might or might not be going…"

He flopped on his back once more still smiling like an idiot.

"Aw, geez," he rubbed his face. "Just what's wrong with me?" he opened his phone cover and looked at the number he had just dialed. He clicked on it and pressed "save" and he typed on it "Lucy."

For whatever reason, he didn't feel like writing her last name unlike the rest of his contacts. He sighed as he sat back up and continued to pick up his mess, unlike before he was more willing to get his work done and have his day free for next week.

* * *

When Lucy left the sanity of her bathroom, she was greeted with the sight of her friends toppling over as she opened the door.

"Discrete much?" she asked.

"Sorry, Lu-chan."

"We didn't mean to listen in."

"Speak for yourselves you two, I want to know!" exclaimed Lisanna. "So who exactly _**is**_ Gray? And where are you going with him?"

"Well, if you must know," she said dramatically as they sat on her queen-sized bed. "He is the one that took me in for the night – not like that!" Levy was giving her the knowing look. "And we're just going to support his sister's school festival next week, you guys are invited to come if you'd like?"

"Of course, we'll go! We need to know who this savior of yours is! And by 'we' I mean _me_!" answered Lisanna.

"Are you sure that she's his sister and not his daughter?"

"Erza is right, you did say he was 26…," added Levy.

"Yeah and his sister is about 17-18, maybe?"

"You know, those are crucial details you should not hold back on," replied Levy pouting.

"Sorry, sorry, but you guys never asked-"

Erza interrupted. "You spend the night at another man's house, a man who lives alone – with a sister who might or might have been home – after you found out your dick-head of an ex-boyfriend has been cheating on you. I think every detail _after_ finding out is important, asked or not."

She looked at her friends. "Touché you guys, _touché__**.**_"

"Hime-sama," said Virgo from the door. "I have brought snacks for you and your friends."

"Thank you, Virgo."

"Is it punishment time, Hime-sama?"

"N-no, that will be all, thanks," she sweat-dropped.

When the pink-haired maid left, her friends once again bombarded her.

"So tell us, is this a new thing you're trying out?"

"What thing?"

"Spending the night at a man's house and then secretly talking to him on the phone at _night_ yet again?"

"I-it's not!" she blushed. "Besides, Gray and I are just friends – acquaintances to say the most."

"Yes, but acquaintances don't necessarily invite one another to _dates_!"

"It's not a _date_!"

"Not _yet_!"

"Ugh," she groaned as she looked at her friends. "So what? Do you guys want to come?"

"Of course!" the all shouted.

"I have to meet the guy who will be escorting you from now on!"

"I need to have a visual to know if I need to hunt him down!"

"And I just want to know if he's good looking enough for you!"

The group of girls laughed, Lucy couldn't really have asked for a better group of girl friends than the ones she had right here in her room. She smiled and grabbed her phone, after unlocking it she saved his number from her "recent calls" list and texted him her friends' reply.

-They said yes. :)

-_Great, the more the merrier, right?_

-Right!

For some reason, she felt as if her response wasn't as cheerful as she wanted it to be, was it because she didn't include a smiley face? Or was it because it wasn't going to be a date anymore?

'_Wait, what!_' Lucy blushed.

No, she and Gray were merely acquaintances, just two people trying to get to know each other, right?

'_Damn it, this is all Lisanna and Levy's fault!_'

* * *

**Yay! Day 2/Chapter 2 is completed, though I have to warn you guys, this story will probably be continuing further on after GrayLu Week.**

**Well, don't forget to follow and review.**

**~Karie**


	3. Chapter 3: Fear

_**Fear [feer]**_ – (3) concern or anxiety; solicitude. (5) something that causes feelings of dread or apprehension; something a person is afraid of. (6) anticipation of the possibility that something unpleasant will occur.

* * *

_**Chapter 3**_

For the rest of the week, Lucy kept on tossing and turning every night when she went to sleep. She kept waiting for Friday to arrive faster than before! Was it because of Gray?

'_N-no! That's preposterous! I just want to see Wendy-chan and see how she's doing!_'

But then again, she could have always asked Gray for her number.

'_No, Lucy! Bad Lucy! You just broke up with that __**bastard**__, love and dating are the last thing that should be on your mind!_'

She looked at the boxes adorning her room. When she had made it officially clear to _Richard_ (ugh, that left a bitter taste in her tongue, even in her mind), she asked her father if she could move back home – of course Jude had no problem with that decision considering it meant having his baby girl closer to him and away from leeching men. Although it wouldn't be the same as living alone in her apartment, she didn't mind, there were times she felt lonely at her apartment whenever her friends didn't visit.

She asked for the following week to be off after that, she didn't really want to go back to work so soon knowing _he_ would be there.

She sighed as she opened only the third box out of the many she needed to unpack.

_Knock_, _knock._

"Come in!"

"Hey, sis," said Laxus entering.

"Hey, Laxus," she said wiping her forehead, "What's up?"

"I think I'm gonna get dumped," he said in a hollow voice as he sat in one of her couches.

"What?"

"Yeah," he continued, "I think Luna's lost the spark."

"Luna lost the spark?"

"Yeah!" he said standing up and paced around her room. "Like she won't answer any of my calls, or even give me the time of day!"

"Laxus, don't you think you're acting a little too out of character?" she asked unconvinced.

"What do you mean?"

"When has Luna _ever_ given you a time of day? And she _always_ answers your calls! I even heard you guys talking last night when you were on the phone on the patio!"

"You were _eavesdropping_!"

"I was _passing_ by!"

"So you really think I'm not gonna get dumped?"

"Nope!" she said sounding the "p."

He stared at her for a minute before walking to her door and opening it. "I told you so."

"Damn it!" she heard a voice say.

"You owe me 20 bucks!"

"Yeah, yeah," a young woman with caramel brown hair and ocean green eyes entered the room. She was slightly taller than Lucy and her hair reached her waist in waves. "Hey there, Lucy."

"Hi, Luna!" smiled the blonde. "What brings you here? I mean besides 'dumping' my brother?"

Luna laughed. "Sorry to disappoint but that won't be happening today."

"Aw," she said pretending to be disappointed

The brunette giggled. "I came today to help you unpack. I heard what happened, I'm so sorry," she said making her way to the blonde and hugging her. "But don't you worry. If I ever see his sorry face, it'll be the last time you do as well."

"Thanks, Luna," smiled Lucy.

The two let go of each other and she looked around the room.

"Well, these boxes aren't going to unpack themselves," stated Lune with a smile.

"Do you want me to help?" asked Laxus.

Luna looked at him skeptically. "You want to help your sister unpack?" He raised an eyebrow in response, she continued. "Unpack boxes that may or may not contain her necessities? Like her…intimates?"

Laxus white. "I-I'm gonna go out then," he said backing out of the room. "Call me if you need anything!"

He shut the door faster than either could react. Lucy laughed at his reaction; only her brother's girlfriend would be able to make him act like that.

"Sometimes I don't know if you guys are long lost siblings or lovers."

"Hmm," the brunette hummed putting up pictures back in their place on the wall. "When you meet _the_ _one_, he should be able to be anything to you. Your brother, your best friend, your caregiver, and of course your lover," she winked back at the blonde.

"Yeah but – wait did you say _the_ _one_?"

Luna nodded.

"As in Laxus is…_THE ONE!_" she looked down at the brunette's left hand. "_No way…_"

Luna held up her hand proudly showing off the diamond encrusted engagement ring on her ring finger. "_Way!_"

Lucy screamed as she jumped her way towards her soon to be sister-in-law. "When did this happen?"

"The night you disappeared off the face of the Earth."

"Why didn't you guys say anything!"

"_Because_..."

"Because?"

"I wanted to give some good news in the midst of your storm! Besides, this way it's much more fun seeing your reaction than just _telling_ you! Am I right?"

"I really want to hate you for not telling me! But I can't!" Lucy couldn't contain the smile that spread from her lips to her eyes.

It was something Luna could always do, as if she was an angel sent from heaven that just lit up your day with just her voice – though knowing her for so many years she knew better. As kind and generous as she was, Luna had a strict set of rules that she followed by, which helped her brother during his rebellious days or rather years. While Luna could look like an angel, she could also be the opposite of one – sort of like Mira – only much scarier since her eyes would turn icy blue for some reason.

"Well, enough about me and my far, _far_, away wedding, tell me about this 'friend' of yours."

"How do you know?"

"Mira told me."

"Of course she did," Lucy sighed. "Where do I begin?"

"Uh, the beginning of course!"

"Well, he's name is Gray…"

'_So much for unpacking my things today_,' she thought to herself as she told Luna her day – _night_ – with Gray.

* * *

Gray paced back and forth from his bed, he was stuck between two shirts: a navy blue and a light blue. He was already done dressing up – except for his shirt. He looked at the clock, if he didn't choose now he would be late for his date with Lucy.

"It's _not _a_ date_!" he said out loud.

"What's not a date?"

"Ah!" he screamed. He turned to his left and saw his sister dressed in her casual clothes, it turns out their costumes weren't ready yet, so they had to change at school. "Wendy, what did I tell you about knocking?"

"I did knock."

"And?"

"And you said 'come in'."

"I did?"

"Yeah…," she said she looked at the shirts on his bed picked up the first one. "Put this one on."

"Why?"

"Are you going to doubt a girl's sense of fashion?"

"_Touché_," he said as he quickly buttoned it up, he grabbed his keys off his desk along with his phone – 15 minutes to spare, perfect. "Agh!" he said frustrated.

"What's wrong now?" she asked him a bit impatient. Wendy looked at him suspiciously before grinning. "I know what your problem is," she said teasingly.

"Oh, do you now?"

"Yep! You're thinking about Lucy-san and your date with her!"

"Am not!" he argued as he closed the door to his room and followed her down the stairs.

"Are too," she sang as she put on her flats. "I mean, why else would you be so nervous?"

"I'm not nervous," he mumbled.

"Yes, you are," she giggled before pointing at his hands as he tried locking the door. "Why else would your hand keep missing the keyhole?"

He looked down at his hand, she was right…she always was. "Look, we're just going to support you and your class, all right?"

"Kay, whatever you say!"

"Would you stop that?"

"Make me!" she said before sticking out her tongue at him and getting inside his car.

Gray sighed as he sat down and brought the vehicle to life. They drove for a short amount of time. As Gray parked the car, Wendy jumped up and down in her seat.

"Excited much?"

"Very!" she said as she opened the car door and stepped out.

"Just don't forget to keep your phone on you at all times and -"

"-to call you if I get into any kind of trouble. I know, I know, I'm not a little girl anymore!"

"I was going to say to call when you were done, but that too," he said locking the doors to his car. The two walked a little until they reached the school entrance. "I'll wait for Lucy and the others here; you should go and get ready."

"All right, see you in a bit," she said as she jogged to her classroom.

Gray looked at his watch, maybe he showed up a bit _too_ early.

"Gray!" he heard a voice say from afar, he looked up from his watch and saw Lucy approaching him, she was wearing a cute dress with a belt in the middle and low wedges. "I hope we didn't make you wait long."

"Not at all," he said smiling down at her. '_Wait, did she say 'we'?_' He looked away from her for a moment and saw that there was a group of people he didn't know behind her. '_Had they always been there?_'

"Let me introduce you to everyone," she said using her hand to direct to the people in the group. "These are my close friends; Levy, Gajeel, Erza, Jellal, Lisanna and Natsu. Guys this is Gray, the one that let me stay the other night at his house."

"Nice to me meet you, Gray-kun," bowed Levy.

"'Sup?"

"Thank you for watching over Lucy the other day," said Erza as she bowed as well.

"It was no problem," he replied before his eyes landed on Lisanna. "Don't I know you from somewhere?"

Lisanna blushed lightly. "If it's about that phone call please forget everything I said! I'm truly sorry!" she said as she bowed low.

He let out a low chuckled. "Relax, no harm done right?"

"Right," she replied smiling.

"But you do seem familiar…are you related to Elfman by any chance?"

"Yes! He's my big brother," she said as she tilted her head back.

He clapped his hands as he had an "aha!" moment. "I knew it! You're the young girl from the pictures! Your brother and I used to be in the same judo team back in college. He would always rant about being a 'man' but he always treasured every postcard you guys send him."

"Ah, I see," smiled Lisanna. "Ne, Natsu, don't you think that's sweet of Elf-nii-chan?" she turned to her boyfriend. "Natsu?"

Natsu wasn't listening to Lisanna at the moment he was too busy glaring at Gray. "_Fullbuster_."

"_Dragneel,_" he replied in the same manner.

The sparks that flew through their eyes didn't go unnoticed by anyone.

"Ano, do you guys know each other?"

"Something like that," replied Gray still not taking his eyes off the salmon-haired man.

"You see, Romeo happens to his sister's friend-"

"-more like nuisance," mumbled Gray.

"What did you say, Ice Freak?"

"You heard me, Ash Brain!"

Their heads collided as they continued to glare at one another. Lucy turned to her friends for any sort of help; they shrugged making her turn to face the two again.

"Mind explaining for the rest of us?"

Gray sighed as he pulled back and faced the reason he was here in the first place – aside from Wendy that is.

"You see, _Dragneel _here," he pointed a thumb over to Natsu. "Encouraged that mini-me of himself to drag Wendy out of her studies when she was younger and made her come back home late and without a warning or notice."

"Oh please, you just can't get over the fact that your beloved little sister was spending time with someone other than you," replied said person in question.

"Can you blame me? He _made _her skip school_! Twice!_ "

"If I remember correctly, she went along _wi-lling-ly._"

"Okay, that's enough you two," stepped in Erza when she saw their fists shake. "We're here to support Romeo's and Wendy-chan's class today; we don't need their brothers getting into a fist fight to grab people's attention."

"Y-yes," said Natsu when he saw the look in Erza's eyes.

"R-right," replied Gray, intimidated by the younger woman.

Erza smiled and walked ahead of the group. "Now, what shall we do first?" she asked when she turned around with a sparkle in her eyes.

Surprised at the sudden change, Gray answered. "Well, it's still early but some of the stands have already set up around here," he pointed to the couple stand open.

"Ooh, they have snow cones!" exclaimed Lucy when she saw one that caught her eye.

"You want one, Luce?" asked Natsu ready to take out his wallet.

"Yeah, but I can buy my own, thanks," said Lucy stopping him.

"What flavor would you like, Miss?" asked the student in charge of the stand.

"Hmm, what flavors do you have?"

"We have the basic flavors such as cherry red and raspberry blue, but we also have our Fullbuster Special Surprise which is one of our_most_ popular flavors."

"Fullbuster? As in _Gray_ Fullbuster?" asked Lucy while pointing behind her.

"His sister actually," she answered before bowing towards the older man. "It's nice to see you again, Gray-san."

Gray nodded in acknowledgement.

"This is Wendy-senpai's special creation, although we wanted to name it after her - she said it wouldn't catch on."

"Give me..." Gray counted the group with him. "8 of those. My treat."

"What!"

"Gray-kun, you don't have to!"

"Hey, I can pay for my own!"

"Nah," Gray brushed them off. "Consider it a 'thanks' for coming to support my sister."

"Someone has a sister complex - _oof_," mumbled Gajeel before getting jabbed in the side by Levy.

"A-are you sure?" asked Lucy.

"Yeah, don't worry about it," he smiled as he paid for the frozen treats.

The group looked at the yellowish-colored shaved ice.

"So what exactly is it?" asked Jellal, the only one brave enough to try to taste it.

"Oh!" exclaimed the student who noticed she forgot to explain the frozen treat. "It's a special blend between Lucuma and Maracuya or as it is more commonly known; passion fruit."

"Loco-what now?"

"Lucuma," corrected Lucy. "It's an indigenous fruit that grows in the subtropical valleys of the Andes in Peru, in English they are known as eggfruit."

"How do you know that?" asked Gajeel.

"My dad brings me some so Aries can make ice cream from them."

"Right," he nodded. "Rich people and their money."

"Hey!"

"Anyway, try it," said Gray as he took a small bite. "It's really good."

Lucy gladly sank her lips into the yellowish shaved ice. She tasted the light sourness of the Maracuya but it was quickly overtaken by the sweetness of the Lucuma, leaving her tongue tangling with joy.

"Hmm," she hummed as she opened her eyes. "Delicious! Wendy really outdid herself!"

Seeing Lucy's reaction, the others hesitantly took a small bite and savored the mixed flavors. Their reactions were similar to that of Lucy's and Gray couldn't help the small ego boost that grew in him knowing that his sister was the one that made them smile that way.

"How did Wendy come across foreign fruits?" asked Lucy as they walked more into school.

"Ultear had gotten her first promotion a couple of years ago and was directed to oversee the productivity of a new hotel in a city in Peru called Moyobamba."

"Moyobamba? I've never heard of it," interrupted Levy lightly.

"That's only natural," he replied. "It's a small city, but its beautiful none the less. It's known as The City of Orchids for its 3,500 species of orchids."

"Wow," Lucy was amazed; she had never visited the Andes, let alone South America - although she had heard how beautiful it was from her father.

"Yeah, well, long story-short, she came across a local home business that sold fruit Popsicles, tried a couple, learned what they where and brought some over for us to enjoy."

"Isn't that expensive?" asked Erza. "Importing foreign fruits is really rare, including those from South America."

"True, but you could say my sister is...," he paused for a moment, thinking of the right word to use. "I guess you could say persistent - or rather persuasive."

The group laughed nervously, whoever this woman was she was either scary or incredible.

"Oh! Look Gajeel-kun!" said Levy pointing to a certain booth. "They have a limited edition copy of _The Tales of Beedle the Bard_!" She dragged her boyfriend along as she basically jumped up and down.

"Tch, how much for the book?" He asked.

"Oh sorry, but this book isn't for sale," replied the student in charge. "It's one of our prizes for winning."

"What do I have to do?" asked Levy.

"Well, it's simple really," he smiled down at her. "All you have to do is beat our captain in an exhibition boxing match; since you are trying to get one of our first level prizes."

"Eh!" Levy looked disheartened.

Gajeel took out his wallet and slammed some money on the counter. "So where do I find this captain of yours?"

The student forced a smile on the scared face he had on. "R-right this way," he said stepping outside of the counter and motioning them to the side where a boxing ring was set up.

"Was that there a minute ago?" asked Lucy.

"I would be lying to you if I said yes," answered Gray as he saw Lucy's friend being suited up with gloves, a headgear, a mouth piece (which he handed back saying he didn't need it), and a body protector.

"Hey, no fair! I want to try as well!" said Natsu as he made his way to the ring.

"Next time, Salamander," said Gajeel as the boxing captain stepped into the ring.

"This is going to be a while," said Lisanna as she walked to her childhood friend before turning around. "You guys go on ahead, we'll catch up later!"

The four stood there for a moment as Gajeel charged forward before walking further in to the main building.

The group wandered around as students rushed around fixing last minute details, they stopped at a couple of places that gathered their interest before finally making it to Wendy's class.

"Eh! What do you mean?" they heard as Gray opened the sliding door to the classroom.

"It's true, apparently another class is having a café as well, only they are cosplaying!"

"Man, what do we do now? We need something to grab their attention!" said Wendy before she spotted them at the doorway, an innocent smile crossed her face. "Oh, Gray-nii-chan!"

* * *

Lucy tied the white apron and turned to look at Erza. "Why do I get the feeling that you're enjoying this more than you should?"

Erza turned around to face her, she was wearing the same maid outfit as Lucy, only she had a confident smile. "We did say we would help."

Lucy sweat-dropped. "Just don't scare them off," she said as she walked back to the classroom.

On her way there, she felt eyes on her, something that wasn't really new to her considering this was how she had spend her days in high school. When she reached her destination, she was greeted by a huge line of girls waiting outside.

"Lucy-nee-san, quickly, we need you to start serving," said Romeo who was dressed as an English butler. "Is Erza-san ready?"

"Oh she's ready all right," she replied as she looked behind her, the redhead was posing and had sparkles around her as people took her picture.

The two helped as much as they could but the line didn't seem to be getting any smaller.

"I don't know whether I should be happy this turned out to be a huge success, or irritated that I can't enjoy this festival," said Lucy when she went to the back of the classroom to get her order.

"I don't know what you're talking about, I'm enjoying myself," said Erza with a smile and a glint in her eyes.

"Of _course_ you are…"

Suddenly there was a huge scream from the other side of the curtain that almost made Lucy drop her tray.

"What the-?"

The curtain opened and in came Gray and Jellal with signs that said, '_**Come to Class 3-2's Café**_!' they were both wearing matching the same English Butler outfit as Romeo.

"Hey, I hope this is more than enough of a crowd for you, Wendy," said Gray as loosened his tie.

"Yeah, thanks Gray-nii-chan!" replied Wendy. "Even though it's a little hectic right now, it was more than enough."

"I still don't see why you had extra costumes," he said narrowing his eyes.

"Oh we didn't," said Romeo as he set down his tray with empty plates and cups. "Those were the ones we bought to use as models for these," he pulled his jacket a bit.

"Right," replied Gray, his eyes not leaving the young man beside him. "Well, if that's the case, then I hope you don't mind if we check out the competition and the rest of the festival."

"Not at all," replied Wendy as she left the back and went back to serving.

"What do you say? Want to accompany me?" he asked Lucy.

"Sure, just let me finish with this," she said as she placed her order in her tray.

"Do you guys want to come along?" he asked Jellal.

"I think we'll stay here," he answered. "I doubt Erza is going to leave any time soon." The two peeked through the curtain and saw Erza seductively serving a group of boys their cake.

"Somehow I feel as if this normally happens," said Gray as he pulled back and turned to see Lucy turn rather quickly and slip, luckily Gray steadied her in time to avoid damage. "I think you've been working too hard," he took the tray from her hands. "Let me take care of this while you go and change, I don't think you'll be comfortable walking around like that."

"But-" she started but before she could say anything further, he was already halfway through the curtain. "Geez, I was doing perfectly fine," she pouted but none the less did as she was told.

When she came back to the classroom, she found Gray already waiting for her, wearing the clothes he had come with.

"Sorry I made you wait," she said.

"Not at all, I just got here myself," he said.

It was then that they realized that they had this exchange only hours ago making him chuckle and her giggle.

"Shall we, princess?" he asked as he offered her his hand.

"We shall," she replied as she placed her small hand in his larger one.

Their first stop was the competition from only a couple of halls away. Even with all the publicity Gray and Jellal had done, the cafe was still running just fine its own long line. Mutually deciding it was a bad idea to actually go in and see what was so good about it, they opted for casually walking around the halls and experiencing the rest of the festival. They saw a class' representation of Romeo and Juliet and even went back to the front so Gray could win Lucy a cute stuffed white rabbit, much to her delight.

Later they went to a haunted house that had been built by the track field.

"Do we really have to try this?" she asked warily.

He looked back at her. "Not really," he then changed his voice in a teasing a manner. "Unless you're scared."

"Am not!" she replied, too stubborn to admit that he was right.

"Okay," he said as he walked further on. "But if you're scared, I don't mind holding you once more," he winked at her.

She blushed a deep red as she recalled the last time he had. Flabbergasted, she walked passed him and into the creepy, dark, make-believe mansion in front of them instead of giving him the satisfaction of knowing what he made her feel.

As soon as she stepped one foot inside the door, she regretted her decision instantly. She remembered laughing all those times Ellen DeGeneres sent her writer Amy to those creepy haunted houses on Halloween in Los Angeles, but as she slowly walked through the place, she could see what was so scary about them. Just when she was getting used to the eeriness of the place, a creepy clown appeared in front of her making her scream and clutch onto the closest thing to her, which in this case happened to be Gray.

"I thought you said you could handle it," he teased, although in the inside he was screaming. Why on earth did they have clowns here? It was a haunted house, not a haunted _circus_!

"Shut up," she said as she pressed herself closer to him and closed her eyes tightly.

He chuckled lightly, before awkwardly moving around the weird thing in front of him. However, that one clown was the just the beginning of everything. For the next couple of turns, they experienced something that was either disturbing or simply scarier than the one before it. As much pride as a man could have, Gray stayed strong...that is until near the end.

"See, Lucy," he said. "We're almost there. Just one more turn and -!"

He never got to finish his sentence since a clown popped in front of him - not the same one they had encountered at the entrance, a much frightening one. Unlike the first one which only had weird face painting and a rather disturbing smile, this one not only had the characteristics mentioned before but it also looked to be covered in blood and was holding a giant, fake (but realistic looking), knife in his hand.

The first noise that reached their ears was the sound of Lucy's scream that was oddly enough mixed with that of a male's. Gray grabbed her hand and basically pushed his way through to the exit.

Once they were a good distance away from the horror they had witnessed, they managed to calm down their hearts before Lucy said, "so..."

"So?" He said trying to play it cool.

"You're scared of clowns, aren't you?" She said with a teasing smile.

"What! No! Maybe! So!" He said falling for her attack.

She laughed goodheartedly.

"Shut up," he mumbled as he blushed red and looked anywhere but her teasing chocolate eyes.

However, from the corner of his eye he saw a very distinguishing figure a couple of feet away from them.

"Gray?" she asked him when she saw his change in demeanor.

"Huh? Yeah, excuse me for a minute, Lucy. I'll be right back," he said as he walked towards the figure without taking his eyes off of it.

Gray knew that retreating figure. It was one he had gotten to know since he got to high school. It was the same one that used to follow him around and hide whenever he turned around. When he caught up to it, he lightly but firmly grabbed her hand making her turn around.

"Juvia," he said.

"Gray-sama," she said surprised. "Juvia was not expecting to see you here..."

"You weren't expecting to see me at my _sister's_ school?" he narrowed his eyes.

"Well," she said not looking at him. "Juvia knew that Gray-sama would be here, but Juvia was not expecting to be found in the middle of the crowd..."

He tightened his grip. "What are you doing here?"

"Gray-sama, you are hurting Juvia," she said wincing at his strength.

Just as Gray was about to ask again, another voice came from behind Juvia.

"Leave her alone, Gray."

"Lyon," he said in an icy voice.

Lyon stepped forward between the two. "Leave her alone, she didn't do anything to you."

"You're right," he went from glaring Juvia to glaring him. "You did - or rather you _both_ did."

"Why you-!"

"Lyon-sama, please stop. Juvia did not come here to see you fight Gray-sama!"

"But-!"

"Please, Juvia came today to make things right," her voice shook, but there was a conflict between stubbornness and fear in her eyes.

Lyon lowered his head and moved aside, though he did not stand too far back, only close enough to step in if needed to.

Gray turned to face Juvia.

"Gray-sama!" she started out strongly. "Juvia is - Juvia is sorry!"

He stood there, shocked.

Almost as if anticipating this, she continued. "Back then, Juvia never meant to hurt you! Or even for you to break your friendship with Lyon-sama. Juvia knows that what she did was wrong, but even so! Juvia never wanted to make Gray-sama suffer the same way she once did!"

"Juvia…I don't know what to say," he was at a loss for words.

Over the years, he had gotten over the resentment he held against his ex-girlfriend and ex-best friend, but it still hurt him to know that they had gone behind his back.

"Juvia...Juvia would like to know if Gray-sama would forgive her – and not only Juvia but Lyon-sama as well."

He looked at them unsure, there was only one question he needed answered.

"I want – no – I _need_ to know how long had you guys been together, before I caught you..."

Juvia looked at Lyon who silently answered her question.

"It...There were no days before," he said. "I had confessed to Juvia only moments before. If anyone is to be blamed, it's me. I-I was the one that initiated the kiss, not her. If you wanna take a punch then by all means-!"

Lyon hadn't even gotten the chance to finish his offer before he had been thrown back by the force of Gray's fist.

"Sorry, but I could hold myself back any longer." He brought down his fist next to him and looked at it before shaking it. "That felt good," he said smiling a little. He turned to Juvia, her eyes held shock and fear in them. "Does he make you happy?"

"W-what?"

"Does he?"

Juvia looked at the man on the ground who was holding his jaw and turned to Gray with confidence. "Yes, Lyon-sama makes Juvia very happy."

He grinned. "Then I have nothing to forgive you for," he said as he offered his best friend a hand.

"Thanks," he replied, smiling as well.

"I knew I couldn't make you as happy as he does, it was only a matter of time," he mumbled as he turned around.

"Gray-sama!"

He turned to her. "Yes, Juvia?"

"Thank you," she said bowing respectfully.

He grinned at her and turned back once more, this time his hand waving towards her as if saying "no problem."

He went back to the spot he had left Lucy, but to his surprise, she wasn't there.

_'Maybe she went to go get a drink_,' he thought as he looked around.

However, that thought quickly disappeared from his mind as he saw the plush toy he had won for her on the ground. His body turned cold, he couldn't hear the people around him anymore. He picked it up slowly, had the world around him disappeared? No, he knew they were there. He shook his head, as if shaking away the thoughts that kept bugging him, maybe Flame Head had dragged her off somewhere.

"Hey, Ice Freak."

'_Please let her be there,_' he thought as he turned our slowly. They were all there, all of Lucy's friends that is, but not her.

"Where's Lucy?"

'_Shit,_' he thought, not even his coulrophobia* could muster the amount of dread he felt in the pit of his stomach. He felt sick.

* * *

**Okay, vocabulary time! :D **

_*****__**Coulrophobia**_** is the fear of clowns. **

**I tried to find out what Gray was afraid of, but I couldn't find anything so I came up with that. ****I know that a phobia is much stronger than just fear, but I didn't really have time to expand on that concept.**

**As for Moyobamba, it's a real city in Peru, it's actually my hometown. **

**I couldn't come up with a brand new flavor so when I went to a Peruvian Festival I ordered a mix of Lucuma and Maracuya shaved ice and it was amazing!**

**I know that this isn't exactly, completely all about fear-fear, but it was the only way I could incorporate it into the story without losing the flow of the plot. Please leave a review!**

**~Karie**


	4. Chapter 4: Separation

_**Separation [sep-uh-rey-shuh-n]**_ – an act or instance of separating or the state of being separated.

* * *

_**Chapter 4**_

The others watched as Natsu roughly pushed Gray against the wall.

"What the _hell_ do you mean you don't know?"

"Natsu, calm down," said Jellal, although he didn't making an effort on stopping him.

"I can't calm down," he said as he once again pushed Gray. "Where is Lucy?"

"I already told you. I don't know," replied Gray as he tried to loosen Natsu's grip on him. "I left her alone for like five minutes-"

"Are you an idiot?" Natsu yelled as he banged him against the wall before letting him fall to the ground. "Why did you leave her alone in the first place?"

"Look, I had some personal business to attend to, all right?" he said as he tried to get up, but it seemed that Natsu's constant pushing was able to mess up his sense of balance, so he leaned against the wall for support.

"Personal? Like what?" asked Gajeel with a scowl in his face.

"That's none of your business," he replied as he tried to not look at them. This was all his fault, why didn't he take Lucy with him? Oh right, he didn't want her to see him so pathetic.

_'How ironic,_' he thought.

"Why you-!" Natsu tightened his hand into a fist.

He pulled it back to give him a punch but before he could even blink, a figure stepped in between them.

"Stop!"

His fist stopped only millimeters away from a pair of fiery brown eyes.

"Don't hurt, Gray-nii-chan!"

"Wendy..."

She turned away from the group and helped her brother keep his balance by making him lean over her. "Why are you doing this? Gray-nii-chan isn't the one at fault for this!"

"Wendy that's enough," said Gray trying to stop her from saying too much.

"_No_!" she turned to him. "You and Ultear-nee-chan have always taught me never to use violence to solve a conflict!" She turned back to the group. "Why are you hurting my brother?"

Natsu backed down, he had known Wendy ever since she was a little girl. She was always docile and incapable of hurting a fly, let alone others; but the way she was staring at him and his friends made him think otherwise.

He looked away from her, her eyes were too much like Lucy's at the moment, he couldn't take it.

Erza saw this and stepped in. "Lucy is gone-"

"-so you decided to beat my brother because she isn't with him!"

"No-!"

"Then you don't have an excuse," she said as she walked a bit away from the group to let her brother sit in one of the benches available. Once he was settled, she glared at them. "Ever thought she might have just gone to the restroom or _something_?"

"We did," said Levy speaking up. "But she wouldn't just go without telling anyone, and besides she would have texted us instead of making us all worry!"

Gray and Wendy looked at them weirdly, why were they freaking out so much? Sure, she had been gone for 10-15 minutes, but why the big fuss? They knew she had money, but a kidnap in plain sight was just digging their own grave.

Gray's stomach plummeted to the ground; that feeling was back again. He looked down at the once white plush toy in his hand, if something bad happened to Lucy because of him...

"I think I'm going to be sick," he murmured before quickly getting up, rushing to the nearest trash can, the plush toy forgotten on the floor by Wendy's feet.

Wendy picked up the toy and looked at it; it was one of the prizes she had seen the Archery Club give out.

When her brother came back looking a little pale, she put the toy down next to him and rubbed his back lightly.

"I'll go get you some water," she said before she glared at the group and made her way.

They guiltily looked down at the floor mostly the girls because they had done nothing to stop their boyfriends from acting the way they did.

"Ano," said Lisanna as she sat next to Gray. "I'm terribly sorry the boys went so rough on you..."

"It's not that," he said as he shook his head. "If anything that's what has been bothering me the least."

He looked at her, what where they hiding from them? Before he could continue Wendy came back. "Here," she said handing him the cup of water.

"Thanks," he said as he drowned the liquid faster than necessary. "Now can someone explain to me, why Lucy missing for such a short time is a big deal?"

The six looked at one another unsurely. "I think that's the least you guys can do considering you almost ruined my cerebellum," he added in an irritated tone.

"All right," said Erza after they silently agreed. "Lucy…Lucy has been stalked by Richard for the last couple of days…"

"What!" exclaimed the Fullbuster siblings.

"Ever since the…_incident_, Lucy has been staying at her father's mansion with her brother, but he would always be outside, so she's had to leave in the family car or be dropped off by Laxus-san," continued Levy.

"But _he_ found out about the trick," said Lisanna. "So the only way he would confront her was if she was alone, which is really hard considering we're always in a group."

"One way or another, that bastard found out about our plans for today and has been following us since we met up at my house," said Natsu glaring at the pavement.

"Since we thought you were going to be with her the whole time, we figured it wouldn't be a problem," added Jellal.

"But we didn't expect you to leave her," said Gajeel.

Gray leaned forward and brushed his hair back, what had he done!

"I-I didn't know," he said as he stared up at them.

"Yeah, right," scoffed Gajeel. "And I'm a guy that likes cheesy chick flicks."

"I'm serious!" said Gray forcefully. "I didn't know, she never told me!"

"It's true!" intercepted Wendy. "Gray-nii-chan would have never left Lucy-san alone if he knew she was being followed the whole time!"

The group stayed quiet; in the midst of that silence, Wendy's phone started beeping. She looked down at it and realized it was from her class representative. "I have to go, my break is over," she said. "If you guys find Lucy-san text me, until then I'll ask my friends and see if they saw her."

She kissed her brother's cheek as reassurance. '_She'll be all right,_' was the message she passed on to him.

Gray clutched his hands tightly before standing up. "Wendy is right," he said to himself before speaking louder. "Lucy might still be in the school, let's split up and look for her, we'll meet back here when we're done."

The rest nodded and went their separate ways. They looked for her in every single nick and crook of the place, but she was nowhere to be found. When they met up again, there was nothing but disappointed faces all around them.

"She has to be around here somewhere," Gray reassured them, but he was really reassuring himself more than anything.

"We've looked everywhere," argued Levy. "Lu-chan isn't here..."

"No! She has to be!"

"Gray?"

They all turned to the voice. It was Lyon along with Juvia.

"Lyon, Juvia," he had forgotten they were there.

"What's wrong? I mean besides the fact that you punched me," he joked, but the seriousness in all of their faces stopped him dead in his tracks. "What is it?"

"Lucy...is gone," was all he said.

"Lucy?" asked Juvia. "Who is this Lucy you are referring to?"

"Lucy is a close friend of ours, she's been missing for a while now," answered Erza.

"Why don't you guys call her? Or did you already do that?" proposed Lyon.

They all looked at him with amazement before face-palming themselves. Why hadn't they done _that_ in the first place?

Gray quickly took out his phone and dialed her number. The group waited patiently as Gray stood still holding his breath. When he heard the click of her answering, he didn't wait for her to greet him.

"Lucy? Where are you? Why didn't you tell me about that imbecile following you? Are you all right?"

_"Well, well, well, if it isn't the bastard who took my dear Lucy-chan away from me."_

"_You!_" He gritted his teeth. "Where's Lucy?"

_"Ah-ah-ah. I'm the one making the demands here. I was wondering when you would call her. It seems that your friends don't really care for you, Lucy-chan."_

"Shut up," he said trying to not raise his voice.

_"Very well then. I won't say anything, but I don't think Lucy-chan can either."_

"What have you done to her!"

_"Nothing, nothing. I just made her tired enough to sleep in her own pool of tears."_

"Why you-!"

_"Now listen here, Gay is it?"_

"It's _Gray_."

_"Yeah, okay. I'll give you back Lucy…if you can come up with 2 billion US dollars. It's a simple trade. I'm sure you and Jude-san can come up with that money right? In any case I'll try to contact you once more in half an hour, bye-bye."_

The call ended. His body was numb, what had that bastard done to Lucy?

"Gray-sama, are you all right?" asked Juvia, her voice bringing him back to life.

"No, I'm not..."

The group looked at each other before Jellal spoke for them. "So what happened?"

"He wants a ransom," he answered as he clutched his phone tighter than necessary, cracking the screen in the process. "And he wants to know of it's a deal or not in half an hour."

"How much?" asked Gajeel.

"2 _billion_ US dollars..."

"What!"

"How are you going to get that amount of money?" asked Lyon narrowing his eyes.

Gray smirked a little. "Don't worry, I won't be doing that."

Lyon nodded.

"But I will need you to boot up your computer for a hacking."

"What!" exclaimed the group.

"Gray, you just said-!"

"Not for that reason, stupid," he glared. "Because Lucy is always wanted by people, it's only natural her father probably inserted a GPS on her phone, or something in the like. And since we know she can't access it herself, we're going to do it for her."

"All right, but if he's going to contact you in less than 20 minutes, we need a plan on how we're going to do this," intervened Jellal.

Gray nodded. "He said to contact Jude-san. I'm guessing that's Lucy's father."

"Right," said Erza. "We'll use my apartment since we can't really go to the mansion. It will attract more attention."

Gray nodded. "Let me call Wendy, I don't need her worrying all night long." Just before he could even press the phone icon in his phone, it started ringing. It was Wendy.

"Hello?"

_"Gray-nii-chan! Romeo-kun knows what happened to Lucy-san! She was taken unconscious by some strange person!"_

"Yes, we know Wendy, we just found out just a couple of minutes ago."

_"Oh," _she said sounding disappointed_. "Well, he managed to get a picture of the person's car, unless you have that too..."_

"No, that's perfect. Think you can send it to me?"

_"Of course!"_

"Also Wendy, I need to drop you off at one of your friend's house. I need to take care of this mess."

_"Ah, all right. I'll ask Asuka-chan if I can stay with her."_

"Perfect," he was about to hang up before he said. "And Wendy?"

He waited for her answer. "_Yes, Gray-nii-chan_?"

"Please don't do anything unnecessary."

"_Okay, I won't_," she replied. "_Take care_."

"You too," he hung up and looked at his cracked phone, if – no, _when_ \- this was over he would need to buy a new one.

"So," he looked at the group. "Anyone want to lead me to Erza-san's place?"

* * *

**An hour earlier**

_"Gray?" She asked him when she saw his change in demeanor._

_"Huh? Yeah, excuse me for a minute, Lucy. I'll be right back," he said as he walked towards the figure without taking his off of it._

'Maybe I teased him a bit too much,' _she thought to herself as she watched his back get lost in the crowd._

_"Hello, Lucy."_

_She heard a voice say from behind her, a voice she knew too familiarly._

_She stiffly turn around. "Richard."_

_"I've been calling you for days, babe. Why haven't you answered?" he asked her as he put his arm around her shoulder._

_She shrugged him off and took a step away from him and turned to face him once more._

_"I believe we both know the reason why," she replied as she glared at him._

_"Lucy, I honestly don't know," he said, feigning innocence._

_"Then allow me refresh your memory. Last week, at the bar, in the parking lot, where you __**ate**__ another woman's face! Richard how could you!" she felt her eyes sting._

_He looked flabbergasted, not expecting that answer. However he wasn't going to let her blame him, he also had something else up his sleeve. _

_"Oh yeah? Then what about you, Miss Goody-Goody? If I remember correctly, you left said bar without telling anyone else and met up with another man! If anyone's at fault here, it's you! How long have you and that idiot been together behind my back?"_

_"Don't call Gray an idiot! You're the idiot Mr. You're-the-one-and-only!" she turned to walk away._

_"Where do you think you're going?" he asked as he roughly grabbed her arm._

_"Away from you! Now let me go!" she said as she tried to free herself from him._

_"I don't think so," he said lowering his voice. "You and I are going to have a little chat, somewhere...private." He tightened his grip making her wince in pain._

_"L-let go or else I - I'll scream for help!" she said trying to not show any fear._

_"Scream all you want. They won't be able to know the difference from yours and the ones from over there," he pointed at the Haunted House behind them. "But as a precaution," he jabbed his fingers behind her collar bone and forced them downwards, knocking her out in a swift move. In that split second, he witnessed her face's change of horror to serenity as he caught her in his arms and took her back to his car._

* * *

When she woke up, she found herself in an unknown room. There was a lamp, a nightstand and a closet. In other words a basic hotel room, _any_ basic hotel room _anywhere_!

_'Great, that helps a lot_,' she thought as she got up from the bed. Her body felt stiff, and she exactly knew why. _'That asshole_,' she thought to herself as she creped around and looked for a way out. There was none except for a door she knew connected to the main apartment in the hotel.

She looked under the bed in the closet to see if her purse was anywhere there, it wasn't.

"Great," she murmured as she bit her lip, she opened one of the drawers from the nightstand, and smiled. "Perfect!"

Inside she didn't find her things, but rather a phone, disconnected, but it was there. Just as she was about to take it out she heard the door's lock click. She quickly closed the drawer and jumped back to bed and closed her eyes.

"Aw, look she's still asleep," she heard Richard's voice say.

"Oh please! I bet she's faking," said another feminine voice, the same one she heard at the bar. She felt someone sit next to her and tried her best to not peak and blow her cover; however, she didn't have to wait because only seconds after she felt water splashed onto her.

She sat up quickly and coughed the little bit that had entered her lungs. "W-what's going?" she asked as she pretended to take her surrounds for the first time.

"Oh please, my cat can act better than you," spitted the woman.

"Easy now, Arianna," said Richard.

"Where am I?" Lucy asked.

"Don't you worry your pretty little head about that, all you need to know is that you are here with _me._"

"_And_ me."

Lucy had the huge urge to roll her eyes, but she didn't. "What do you want?"

"What I've always wanted from the beginning," he answered. "_Money_."

"Then get a job like the rest of us," she said bitterly.

"Funny," said Arianna as she grabbed Lucy's hair from the back and pulled her down.

"Ah!" she screamed in pain.

"If I were you, I'd watch what I'd say."

"I thought you would never hurt a lady," she glared at him.

"Oh I don't," he looked at his accomplice. "But she's another story."

"Yeah," she pulled harder. "And who said you were a lady?" she pulled down Lucy's hair again almost ripping her it off and let her lay down on the bed.

"We'll be back with breakfast, _your highness_," she mockingly bowed, she turned off the light and the two left leaving her in total darkness.

Lucy sighed.

'_Okay, so maybe I've had other kidnappers that treated me better than __**these**__ two,_' she looked at the drawer. If she tried anything now, they would certainly find out. She would have to stay up all night in the dark and pray that they were heavy sleepers. The one mistake they made was leaving her able to move around freely around the room.

* * *

"Heartfilia-san, it's a pleasure to meet you, sir," said Gray as he stood up to greet the older man.

"Mine as well, though I wish we would have met under better circumstances," replied Jude.

Gray nodded and went back to his work on Lyon's computer.

Jude turned to his daughter's friends. "How did he manage to get near her?"

"Fullbuster left her alone-" started Natsu.

"-I _didn't_ know," he replied as he gritted his teeth and typed faster and harder.

"Woah, easy now Gray," said Lyon looking over his shoulder. "I don't need you breaking my laptop just like you broke your phone."

"Yeah, yeah," he waved him off, focusing as much as he could on the code he was trying to crack. "Heartfilia-san, is there any chip or program on Lucy's phone that could give us a GPS location?"

"I think so," he pondered. "I do believe Loke suggested one after the last attempt over a couple of years ago."

"Is there any way you know what the program is?"

"I'm afraid not, he said it would look like any other application on her phone, but I didn't really understand since I'm not really technologically savvy."

"That's all right," said Gray as he fetched out his phone and connected his Bluetooth and called Loke. "Hey, Loke, I need you to do me a favor…"

"Has he called yet?" asked Jude after a moment of silence.

The others shook their heads. "No," answered Levy. "Unless they're expecting us to call _them_ first."

"We're really sorry, Jude-san," said Jellal.

"It's not your fault," he glanced at Gray. "It's no _one's_ fault really. Just another good-for-nothing boy with nothing but greed in his mind."

The group nodded, before Lisanna spoke up. "So how come Gray-san and Lyon-san know so much about GPS tracking and the sort?"

They all turned to Lyon who scratched his head. "It's a long story," he saw their unsatisfied faces, and sighed. "A long, dark story really. Let's just say there was a time back in high school that it was something we did because we _had_ to, _not_ because we _wanted_ to."

They nodded. They couldn't really understand what would get two young teenagers into the life of hacking, computer programming sure, but hacking? That was a different story.

Soon, Jude's phone started ringing and they all looked at him with wide eyes. He looked around the room and caught Lyon motioning him to the laptop he had been working on. He connected the phone to a USB cable and nodded.

He carefully pressed the answer icon and said slowly. "Hello?"

"_Ah! Jude-san, it's nice for you to pick up. I was wondering if you really cared that much about your daughter considering I couldn't get a hold of what's-his-face."_

Jude took a deep breath before answering. "I apologize, but Fullbuster-kun has been making preparations for the money you wanted," he lied easily.

"_Ah. So you're letting a total stranger manage your accounts? I'm hurt you just met this person and you're letting him do that, but not me."_

"Enough with the chatter, where is Lucy?"

"_Ouch, no need to be so cold. Don't worry, I made sure she's comfortable enough, she'll live."_

"Where do you want to meet for the exchange?"

"_Yanagi Station_. _Just leave the money there and I promise you, you will have your precious little girl back home."_

"How will I know you won't go back on your promise?" he said trying to keep the conversation lasting, just a little bit more.

"_Oh, don't worry about that, I don't want your bitch of a daughter any more near me than she already is."_

"Why you-!"

_Toot. Toot_.

The call ended. Jude looked at Lyon with hopeful eyes, but he just shook his head before he slammed his fist down, just a little bit more and they would have-

"I got it," said Gray as he leaned back and moved the screen to face them. A smile plastered in his face. "Look familiar, Heartfilia-san?"

Jude narrowed his eyes before remembering his vision wasn't the best nowadays and put on his glasses. Once he could he clearly, he leaned over and read the name of the hotel Lucy was being held captive, "_Blossoming Inn_."

That bastard had taken her to the one place they would never guess on looking for her, one of his hotels.

* * *

**A little something for you guys to know, the cerebellum is a part of the brain that controls balance for those of you who don't know! Just a little something I thought I should add since I remembered this while helping my friend study for one of her exams.**

**I know it's short, only 3k words ;-; but if I didn't make it short I wouldn't be able to publish the first part at least since I decided to make them two separate chapters, simply because it would be too much and I couldn't come up with something, but don't worry. I will post the Reconnect chapter ASAP!**

**As for Gray's dark past, yeah, I've been watching one too many police Mexican soap operas so…xD Sorry about that, but I couldn't come up with anything else. Besides, it's not like he can have the best life even after his parent's death, so I'm just putting that there for future reference in future chapters.**

**Don't forget to review :)**

**~Karie**


	5. Chapter 5: Reconnect

_**Reconnect [re-kuh-nekt]**_ – (1) to connect back together (10) to relate to or be in harmony with another person once more.

* * *

_**Chapter 5**_

Lucy waited for what seemed like an eternity for her kidnappers to fall asleep. She had been right in not doing anything right away, because moments after, that _skank_ entered the room while dick-head made a call in the other room.

While she waited in the room along with Arianna, she tried to make a conversation to see if there was a way for her to know where she was being held. She had done this technique before on countless men and women, but she didn't budge, she answered her questions, but only as vague as possible, and it was irritating.

When her eyes adjusted to the darkness, she quietly moved to the door while feeling for her surroundings at the same time. She put her ear next to it and waited until she heard nothing but low snores from the other side. By then she tiptoed back to the bed and quietly opened the drawer, however, it creaked as she did so. She paused to see if there were any signs of them awakening.

There were none.

She took out the phone and put it under her bed in case one of them came in any moment now. She closed the drawer quickly and winced when it creaked again.

She held her breath as she felt her way along the wall next to the drawer. She managed to find Internet plug and plugged in the phone's cable and afterwards plugged in the plug. The phone beeped to life and lit up the room for a brief second. She clutched the phone close to her chest and waited once more.

When the coast was clear, she pulled it back and lowered the volume of the handset. She quickly dialed the number she had memorized over the past week and pressed call.

She begged with all her might. _'Please, please, __**please**__ answer._'

When he did, she heard him answer in a groggy voice. "_Hello_?"

She breathed a sigh of relief. "G-Gray? It's me, Lucy..."

_"Lucy? Lucy! Are you all right? Did they hurt you?"_

"Just a bit of hair pulling, but other than that I'm fine."

The other line stayed quiet. "_Why didn't you tell me?"_

She flinched. She could hear the sharpness of his normally playful voice. "I-I..." she didn't have an excuse. "I didn't think it would matter...it happens all the time-"

_"Yes, but I could have prevented it!"_

She felt her eyes sting. "I-I'm sorry." A couple of tears escaped.

She heard him sigh on the phone. "_No. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have scolded you so harshly - especially in the situation you're in right now..."_

The two stayed quiet until she broke the silence. "Gray...I'm scared," her voice broke.

"_I know_," he said as she closed her eyes. Somehow she imagined him there - with her, rubbing her arms in reassurance, but when she opened her eyes, there was no one.

"_Lucy, listen to me_," he said. "_Tomorrow or rather later today in the morning we are coming in to get you."_

"W-what? How? I don't even know where I am!"

"_Shh, relax_," she eased her tense shoulders. "_You don't, but I do_."

"How-"

"_Don't worry about that now_," he interrupted, "_I just need you to trust me and stay low, if anything happens, just stay calm and-"_

"See I told you she would try something," she heard Arianna's voice behind her.

_"Lucy?"_

She turned around and saw her standing over her. Her rusty hair was darkened by the absence of light in the room.

"Say night-night, Lucy-chan," she said with a sickening smile.

_"Lu-!" _

The call ended.

* * *

"Lucy!"

Gray looked his phone; the call ended. Not even 6 minutes had passed while they were talking.

He stood up from his stupor as he heard Lyon groan next to him. "Gray what on heaven's earth and all that is holy, are you screaming about?"

He looked at his left…right. He had forgotten he had stayed at Erza's place until further notice. Jude Heartfilia had left soon after the call between him and Richard ended. He said something about contacting Sagittarius and left as quickly as he came.

"Sorry," he said as he tried not to step on anyone before he reached the wall and turned on the light.

"Agh!"

"What the _hell_!"

"It's so blinding!"

"God _damn it_, Gray!"

He had to admit, the light blinded his eyes far worse than he expected. He had to close his eyes for a good minute and blink several times for them to adjust.

"What's the matter with _you_? Are you trying to make us all _blind_ or something?"

"No time for jokes," he said as he crossed the living room and turned on the laptop he had been using.

"What's going on?" asked Erza wearing a bathrobe as she and the other girls came out from her room.

"I don't know! _Fullbuster_ just tried to kill our eyes!" explained Natsu.

"Lucy got caught when she called me," answered Gray as he impatiently waited for it to boot up.

"She _called_?"

"How?"

"Why _you_?"

He answered their questions. "Yes, through the landline in the room I'm guessing, and _I don't know_! Ask her!"

"Did you tell her about the chip in her mother's necklace?" asked Lisanna.

"No, I wasn't able to," he said as he drummed his fingers on the table impatiently. "But I have a feeling they were listening on our conversation, so in a way that's good."

"He's right, beside Lucy's smart," said Jellal. "I'm sure she'll figure it out eventually."

"Yeah, but now we have a problem. They know that we know where they are."

"We can't risk that," said Gajeel as he stood up. "We have to go get her, _now_!"

The boys nodded at one another in understanding. Gray noted down the exact address of the hotel she was at and grabbed his keys. "Okay, let's go."

They grabbed their things and walked to the door, leaving the girls behind as they slowly processed what they decided.

* * *

When she came to, she found herself bound by something tight. She couldn't even move her hands without hurting herself. She looked around her and noticed a stinging in her cheek.

_'Right_,' she thought bitterly. _'It's when that bitch slapped me with her ring.'_

She tried to sit up, but her legs hurt from what she remembered was due to Arianna's constant kicking with her high heels and her feet were tied together, so even if she stood up, she wouldn't be able to go anywhere.

_'Damn, looks like they learned.'_

It was then that she realized that she wasn't in the hotel room anymore. She was in a basement of sorts, or maybe it was a warehouse. Either way she couldn't tell, it was too dark. All she knew was that her entire body was bind with (what she guessed) was a rope of sorts. Her arms were tied close to her chest, although her legs weren't tied, it still hurt to even move.

She whined in pain, but it was muffled by the cloth that was tied around her mouth. Her only thoughts as she settled once more into the darkness were, _'save me, Gray_.'

* * *

They weren't there. The idiots that took Lucy or Lucy herself! They were gone.

He wondered if they had managed to leave the hotel as they asked the receptionists about them. Even with the picture, the woman was reluctant to give them any information. It took a couple of minutes and a call from Jude Heartfilia for her to get the Front Desk Manager to lead them to the room.

They opened every single door there was and turned the bed inside out. Nothing. There was no sign of Lucy anywhere. It was only then that he looked under one of the couches that found her phone.

_'So they knew_,' he thought as he held it delicately in his large hands.

"There's _nothing_, no sign of them anywhere," report Jellal. "It's as if they were never even here in the first place."

"I wouldn't say that," said Gray as he showed them Lucy's phone. "They knew it had a GPS signal, why else would they leave behind the only way of contacting us?"

"Damn, how did he know?" asked Natsu.

"My guess is Lucy told him," said Jellal.

"Why on _earth_ would she tell him?" asked Gajeel.

"Because she trusted him," said Gray as he tried his hardest not to grip the phone in his hands tightly.

"Hey, guys?" said Lyon from the other room.

"Yeah, what is it?"

"I think I found something you might want to see," he replied.

They entered the connecting bedroom and leaned over Lyon, who was crouching down next to the bed. Their hearts stopped for a brief moment, it was a small pool of blood.

"By looks of it," he said touching it and raising it to the light. "It's recent. It's still warm, so it's safe to say they were here, and by the size of it, I can tell you it was probably a minor injury, a shallow cut if anything."

"How can you tell?" asked Natsu who looked ready to puke. Despite everything, he felt queasy around blood, even more if he knew it was from one of his friends.

"Lyon is a police officer who is trying to become a CSI," said Gray before Lyon could answer.

"How do you know that?" he asked.

"You always kept going on and on about your forensic classes, so I just assumed," he said as he walked out of the room. For whatever reason, he felt like he was suffocating inside there.

He took out his phone and dialed Jude's number. "Heartfilia-san, I'm afraid we got here a bit too late."

_"What happened? Is Lucy all right?"_

"I...I don't know if she is, but I promise you I will get her back. As for what happened, I wouldn't even be able to tell you because I myself don't know."

"_I'm trusting you, Fullbuster-kun, please don't let me down_._"_

"I won't," he replied and ended the call.

At that very moment, Gray felt his body freeze – not literally though. He felt as if anything he touched would freeze. This feeling wasn't something new to him, he felt it back when his parents passed away. And that to him meant he wasn't going to down so easily, he wanted _revenge_.

* * *

They waited hours, and soon that turned to days. The ransom money had been left at the station, but no one had gone to pick it up. It got to the point where they were just trying everything they could. Gray became so aggravated during his work hours that he asked for an early vacation in general. He wouldn't rest until he found Lucy, he promised her he would get her, and he wasn't about to go back on his word.

Wendy came back home eventually. If she stayed any longer, people would start to question and she didn't want that. Although Gray _basically_ lived at the Heartfilia Mansion, he would always be there for her during the early mornings and late nights, something she appreciated.

The search got bigger, and as much as Laxus wanted to get the cops involved (aside from Lyon that is) they couldn't. If they did, it would mean risking Lucy's life even further. His mood became worse as time passed; it got to the point that even his fiancée, Luna, couldn't do much about it anymore. She would let him rant and pour his anger out by punching and kicking the boxing bag, but even those had a limited to what his punches could do.

He wasn't the only one who was having trouble staying in line. Luna herself had to get out the house for various hours to be away from the closure that the mansion had become. With each passing day, Gray noticed her eyes lose their ocean green touch and turn more into the icy blue he had heard Lucy mention during one of their late night conversations.

_'Lucy...'_

That was the only thought that revolved around his head - he couldn't help it. He had been the last one to see her, to be with her. If only he hadn't-!

He felt a hand on his shoulder and jumped, ready to pin whoever it was to the ground.

"Relax, Fullbuster-kun."

It was Luna.

"Sorry, I've just been stressed."

"I know," she said. "We all are."

She looked at the computer he had been using for the past couple of days, the screen itself was bigger than any normal one and for whatever reason, there were two keyboards.

She shook her head. "Come on."

"Where?" he asked not moving from his chair.

"Anywhere. Anywhere that isn't here, in this house."

"Thanks, but I'm fine," he replied as he turned back to his seat.

Luna narrowed her eyes and put her hand on his shoulder again and squeezed it tightly. "I wasn't _asking_ you. Now _get up_," she ordered him.

Gray turned to her ready to argue about this disposition, but one look into those ice eyes made him think otherwise. He swallowed hard and stood up, making her hand drop in the process, and followed her.

"Why are you doing this? We should be trying to figure out where Lucy is!" he said when they were a good distance away from the building and near the gardens.

"I know," she answered as she spread her arms apart as if to embrace the air around her. "But everyone needs a break everyone once in a while." She turned to him. "And I'm sure Lucy would rather have you stay calm instead of pulling out your hair and going bald," she smirked.

He cracked a tiny smile. "I guess you're right."

"I always am," she said and walked further in front of him.

He watched her from behind. Somehow, he felt as if this person wasn't from here, from _Earth_. He wasn't saying that she was from another planet, but...there was just something about her that made him want to protect her. Maybe not the same way he did to Lucy, but in a similar manner.

"What is it?" she asked, a small smile forming.

"Huh?"

He realized he had stopped walking and had stood there staring at her.

She smirked. "Sorry, Fullbuster-kun, but I'm taken," she said as pulled up her left hand and let the sunlight hit her engagement ring.

He laughed, something he hadn't been able to do for a while now. "That's too bad."

She smiled and sat down in one of the many benches provided by the mansion's garden. She patted the spot next to her. "Sit."

He did as he was told and sat down next to her. For a while, they didn't say anything, they just sat there and enjoyed the fresh air that was mixed with the scent of the many flowers surrounding them.

As Gray started to close his eyes, he heard Luna speak. "You know, you're handling your first Lucy-kidnapping better than Laxus did."

"Laxus?"

"Yeah. You know; the big brute with huge muscles."

"Ah! I thought I saw him a couple of times now. So what happened?"

"Well, the first serious Lucy-kidnapping happened when he was 16. He was into this whole _I-don't-need-anybody_ rebellious stage. So, when he found out it happened…he snapped. Not only did he get into more street fights, _but_ when he found out where she was being held, he lost it, _completely_. He went there and literally beat the shit out of every single one of those guys - well him and his friends, the Raijinshu."

"The Raijinshu?"

"Uh-huh. It was the name they called themselves."

They stayed quiet for another moment. "You know, to Laxus, Lucy is the closest thing he'll ever get as a sister..."

"I thought they were brother and sister..."

"No," she shook her head. "Laxus was adopted into the family. He and I grew up in the same orphanage after his dad left him when he was 5."

"I'm sorry, I didn't know..."

"It's all right, we all have our dark secrets, even you. Am I right?" she turned to face him, her eyes weren't that icy blue color anymore, they were almost back to their natural ocean green.

He understood the reason behind the story.

"When Ur and my dad...passed on, I didn't know how to handle it. Ur was a calculus teacher, and Lyon and I were her students."

He smiled a little.

"Even though I was her son, she still wouldn't give me any type of special treatment. Lyon was special to her; he was the son one of her childhood friend. He was basically like my brother for some time. When the plane crash happened, Lyon and I started hanging out with the wrong crowd. We learned about the dirty work that goes around big companies and so on. If it weren't for my sisters, Ultear and Wendy, I don't know if I would even be here at all..."

His hands shook, Luna noticed this and stood up. "She'll be all right."

"How do you know?" he asked in a broken voice.

"I just do," she said and turned to him.

He now realized what Lucy meant when she said that she was like an angel. It wasn't how she looked or how she was in general. There was just something about her that made you feel comfortable, safe and at peace.

He saw her stand before him and all of a sudden, she hugged him. He just sat there unable to process what was happening. "We'll get her back, I promise."

He slowly wrapped his arms around her and tried to hold back the tears that threatened to escape.

"Thank you, Vermillion-san," he said when she pulled back.

"Luna is just fine," she said. "And for as long as you need it, I'll be your emotional support, just like you were to Lucy."

He smiled a little.

"Then call me, Gray, please."

"Okay," she answered and they went back to their silence as she turned to watch the leaves dance along the wind.

"But," she said. "I'm sure right now there is someone else who wishes to be your support as well."

He looked at her strangely before his eyes widened in realization.

"I have to go home," he said standing up.

"I know."

"I need to tell-"

"Don't worry, I'm sure they'll understand. So just go."

"Thanks," he said and made a dash to his car.

* * *

When he got home, he didn't bother parking right, heck, he didn't care if he had a problem backing up the next day.

"Wendy!" he yelled as he entered through the door.

After making sure that he had closed the door properly, he walked to their living room and saw her sitting on the couch with a cup of tea.

"Gray-nii-chan!" she exclaimed, surprised to see him at home so early. "What are you doing here?" she asked as she stood up from her seat.

He crossed the room faster than she'd ever seen him do it. Before she knew what was happening, she was enveloped in his strong arms.

"...Gray-nii-chan?"

"I'm so sorry, Wendy."

Her eyes widened, she knew what he was referring to and hugged him back with all her might. "It's all right. You're just worried."

He pulled back to look at her. "But that doesn't mean it's okay for me to ditch you and leave you all alone."

She smiled a little.

"Yes, but I knew you'd come eventually," she replied and hugged him once more.

When the two separated, they heard someone clearing their throat. Gray turned and his reaction went from joy to dread.

"What? No hug for your onee-chan?" said Ultear feign hurt.

"I-I wasn't expecting you back so soon..."

"Gray, it was a blizzard, not a tsunami," she replied rolling her eyes. "Guess you were too busy searching for this Lucy chick."

He blushed a dark red. "S-shut up..."

"Oh, come here you!" she said as she crossed the room and pulled him in for a bear hug.

Once they let go, he asked. "How do you know about Lucy anyway?"

"Just because you don't email me, doesn't mean _Wendy_ doesn't either," she answered giving him the stare.

"S-sorry."

"It's all right," she said as she went back to the kitchen and brought back two cups of tea.

She handed one to Gray and directed him to sit in the sofa chair they had while she and Wendy sat on the couch.

"Now, tell me what's happened while I was gone."

"Well," he said as he started to tell her his story with Lucy. "It all began when Wendy asked me to buy her some ice cream…"

* * *

Lucy awoke to the icy cold water splashed in her face. For the past couple of days this was her routine:

First, she woke up to cold water and wet clothes.

Second, she was given bread or a sandwich as her meal of the hour.

Third, she was forced to drink water so she wouldn't dehydrate too much before being gagged by the cloth again.

Fourth was sometimes her bathroom break and other times it was Arianna's '_special_' treatment and Richard's words of abandonment.

And fifth was always her knocking out.

However, today was different. She didn't want to knock out this time, but she also didn't want to be alone in the dark. She was starting to lose hope, what if they never found out where she was, then what?

She shook her head. No. She wasn't going to let them get to her. She sighed through her nose, but what else was she supposed to do? She brought her hands to her chest and grabbed her mother's necklace.

_'What do I do, mom?_' she asked as she clutched it tightly and closed her eyes, it was then that she heard a click.

She opened her eyes and look at the direction of the only entrance/exit of her unknown location/room. When she saw no one enter, she looked at around her, but there was nothing and no one. She looked at the item in her hands and saw a small light blink continuously.

She suddenly heard the door open and quickly hid it inside her dress and prayed that whoever it was hadn't seen the light.

* * *

Luna was cleaning up the mess Gray left behind in the Heartfilia private office - not Jude's office, but another office. She picked up and stacked papers that had various locations and numbers on them, she sighed heavily,

_'You sure have this one wrapped around your finger, Lu-chan,'_ she thought.

She grimly remembered his expression from when she had met him; it was one of a crazed man that would stop at nothing until he had gotten what he wanted. She accidentally dropped a paper on the floor and when she bent down to pick it up she realized it was a rough sketch of Lucy's smiling face on the day she had disappeared.

_'He really cares about you,'_ she thought as she put it on top of the stack in her hands, when she straightened up she noticed a blinking light in the map that was projected on the computer screen. On it, it read, _'Lucy Heartfilia. GPS Transmitter: On. Location: In-Progress…'_

She dropped the papers that were in her hand and rushed out of the room screaming.

"Laxus! Jude-san!"

* * *

"And that's the story, basically."

"What a _dickhead_," said Ultear.

"Ultear-nee-chan!"

"I'm sorry, Wendy, but there really is no other way of saying it. What he did to her is something I _can't_ forgive - and she shouldn't either!"

"I don't think she _will_," he said as he drank the rest of his tea. Just as they were about to open up the discussion of Gray's absence in the household, Wendy's phone rang.

She looked at it and answered the call cautiously. "Hello?"

Her eyes widened with every word the person on the phone said, she nodded her head enthusiastically but then she realized they couldn't see her do so. "Y-yes! Right away, Luna-san!"

She pushed the phone towards Gray. "It's for you."

"Me?"

"Yes, you! Now take it!" she said as she basically threw her phone at him.

"Wendy!" exclaimed Ultear at her sister's directness.

"What!"

She turned to her brother.

"O-okay! Don't worry, I'm basically out the door, thanks!"

He was about to end the call but was stopped by a yell that they could all hear.

_"Gray!"_

"Yes?"

He chuckled. "Don't worry, I'll make sure to get there in one piece."

He hung up and threw the phone back at Wendy and grabbed his keys.

"Hey! Where are you going?" asked Ultear as she stood up.

"They found Lucy!"

He said and left through the door he had entered moments earlier, leaving his two sisters with amused smiles plastered in their faces.

"So tell me, Wendy, how long again did you say this has been going on for?"

* * *

When Gray entered the Heartfilia Household, he ran past the line of maids and went straight to the office he had been at. In there, he found Lucy's friends, Luna, Laxus, Jude, and who she assumed were the people who worked for Jude.

"You _finally_ made it," whined Natsu, though the smirk on his face said otherwise.

"Hey, I tried to get here in one piece, all right?"

"Yeah, yeah."

"All right, enough boys," said Luna as she looked away from the computer screen in front of her. When they all turned to her she continued. "I was able to pinpoint Lucy's location to the T. I may not be as good at this as Gray, but I managed to get around," she took out a map from under desk,

"Now this is what we're going to do, Sagittarius and I will stay outside in case they decide to order for backup – I know it's just _him_ and an unknown woman, but we can't take the risk of them being armed. For that reason, Evergreen, Bickslow, and Freed will scout the area and take out anyone they deem suspicious. Only, _don't_ kill them, just knock them out."

"Aw, you're no fun, Luna-chan."

"_Shh!_"

"Gray," she turned her attention to him. "You, Natsu and the others will go in _after_ they give the okay, and if you don't – I _swear_ I will make sure you won't be able to take a step, you hear me?"

"Y-yes," they replied, something about the way she said made Gray think that Luna herself had something darker than anyone else did.

"What do I do?" asked Laxus.

"Nothing."

"What!"

"Laxus, you and I both know that you're not the best when it comes to stakeouts-"

"That doesn't mean I'm going to let you go in there on your own, _especially_ after what happened last time!"

Luna sighed. "_Fine_ – but you're going to watch my back."

"Sounds perfect to me," he said with a smirk on his face that made Luna roll her eyes at him.

"Moving _on_," she said as she went back to the area map. "When you get Lucy out of harm's way, Taurus and Loke will be waiting for you here," she pointed to certain part in the map. "They will take Lucy and get away from the place. You guys are going to go here after doing so," she pointed to the opposite side. "Where Scorpio and Aquarius will be waiting for you.

"This is to confuse them if they catch up to you on the outside, since the car will be hidden, they won't know which to follow. If they do chase you, Scorpio will know what to do so they don't get away.

"Vastia-kun I'll need you to have a patrol car ready around here, here, and here," she said as she pointed to certain exit points. "We can't let any of these people escape. Even if we don't really want to get the police involved, I'm afraid it'll be big news if someone passes by and sees so many unconscious bodies, Jude-san.

"Any questions?"

"Yeah, how on Earth did you come up with such a plan on such a short time?" asked Gajeel.

"Simple," she said with a sweet smile. "When you're with Laxus as long as I have, this is like a second nature. You have no idea how many times _he_ got _me_ involved."

"I thought we weren't going to mention those times _ever_ _again_, Luna," he said as he blushed.

She giggled. "Sorry, I don't remember promising you that."

"So when are we taking this plan into action?" asked Erza.

Luna gave her a confident smile, "_Tonight._"

* * *

Lucy had managed to stay awake the whole day, she didn't know why, but she did. After finding out her mother's necklace could be activated and acted as a GPS, she felt herself flowing with hope, even though she had a hard time keeping that hidden. She avoided looking at her capturers because she knew her eyes would give her away – her voice she could mask, but her eyes were a different story.

"What's wrong, Lucy-chan? You gave up all hope?"

"…" She didn't say anything even as he took off the cloth in the mouth.

"See, I told you your friends didn't really care about you," he continued.

"…"

"Even that Gay guy, I can't believe you stooped so low after me."

"His name is _Gray,_" she said through gritted teeth.

"Yeah, well-"

"-Richard!" one of the guys he hired said barging in.

"What! Can't you see I'm busy?"

"We're under attack!"

"_What!_"

"None of my guys are responding back! There's something out there!"

"Oh _please!_ Maybe they're just lazing around-"

"I don't think so," said Arianna walking in. "I went to check on their posts and there isn't any sign of them, the most I found was this," she showed him a strand of scarlet hair.

Lucy's eyes widened. '_Erza!_'

"Are you sure it's not yours," joked Richard.

"I'm serious! Besides this is obviously not my hair color!"

"Go find out what's happening," barked Richard to the goon.

"R-right, sir," but the goon never made it out of the door. Just as he was about to open it, the door came crashing down on him – _literally_.

"Yo, Lucy! How long do you plan on staying a damsel in distress?"

She smirked, it was so _Gajeel_ of him to say something like that.

"I'm not pretending this time, in case you haven't noticed, I can't exactly move."

"Who are you?"

"You're worst _nightmare,_" said Jellal as he stepped forward and cracked his knuckles.

"Heh, if you think you two are going to do much, think again, we're not alone."

With a snap of his fingers a huge gang of people sprang from the shadows and into the light.

"Who said they were alone?" said Gray as came behind Gajeel's big frame along with Erza and Natsu.

"Hey, _Richard_," said Erza.

"Remember us?" grinned Natsu.

Lucy saw Richard's face turn pale as he turned to the gang of people.

"W-well don't just stand there! Do something!"

"Ah!" they screamed and rushed forward to attack the small group before them.

But what they didn't know was that Lucy's friends weren't ordinary people. After all, during high school they weren't named Fiore's strongest multi-martial arts/sports club, _**Fairy Tail**_, for nothing.

While Erza rushed forward with a kendo sword and basically aimed for Arianna's rusted head, the others managed on their own just fine. It was only a matter of time before said gang was nothing more than just a couple of people rushing outside, where they were greeted by Luna's and Sagittarius's careful aim at their feet to shock them which allowed the Raijinshu to do the rest.

"You've got nowhere to run," said Gray as he approached Richard who was still standing next to Lucy. Somewhere in the turmoil, he had lost his shirt as he avoided a couple of people here and there.

Gray smirked at him evilly. "Not much of a man, are you?"

Richard gulped.

At that moment, Gray took his eyes off him and let them wonder to where Lucy was. What he saw made him snap.

Her whole body was covered in bruises and her cheek had a long gash across it. In that small second he saw of all this, his vision turned blue. Blue because it was the color she was adorned with; blue because he had a feeling his anger wasn't red, it was blue; and blue because it was the color he was going to make Richard turn to in a matter of seconds.

And when said person saw this in Gray's eyes, he ran. Ran like there was no tomorrow. Gray didn't let him get away and went after him, even though he knew Luna was covering the outside.

Lucy had stayed frozen in place. She had never seen that expression in him before…and it scared her. It wasn't until she felt the ropes on her hands were unfastened that she realized she hadn't moved in any way or form.

"Lucy? Are you all right?" asked Jellal as he untied the ones on her feet.

"Y-yeah," she said, but she still didn't move from where she was. She turned towards the direction the two had disappeared to and what she saw terrified her even more. She couldn't see it very clearly, but from the way his shoulder's shook and the unresponsive responses that followed, she could only guess what happened…or what yet to happen.

Despite the pain in her legs, she willed herself to stand up. She wobbled for a moment, but was supported by Gajeel's strong arms. She pushed herself away from them and pressured herself to move forward, towards the person she had longed to be held by. She stumbled here and there, but she would always keep her eyes on her goal. When she reached him, she didn't have any more strength and threw herself onto his back.

The action froze his movements.

"Stop," she said, her voice sounding stronger than what she was feeling. "Please." She hugged him tightly from behind. "Please, Gray, I don't want you to become like them..."

That one sentence brought him back to his senses. What had he done?

He looked at the person in his hands, he wasn't dead - thank god, but he had lost conscious some time ago. He dropped him as if he had been burned by him and slowly turned his body to face Lucy. He saw her, tear streaked and clutching him, as if her very life depended on it.

His eyes showed his fear. Had he pushed her away? He slowly turned to fully face her, but even as he did, she didn't let go.

He carefully wrapped his arms around her, just as how he had done back when they first met, and brought her closer to him, as if she would disappear from his sight any moment now.

"Lucy," he murmured as he buried his face in her hair.

It was all it took to make her legs give out. Just as she fell down, he supported her and went down with her, until he was on his knees, still holding her.

"I'm so sorry, Lucy..."

She said nothing and only hugged him tighter, her voice, momentarily gone.

"I promise you, I will _never_ let you experience that _ever_ again," his voice shook.

She nodded, because she knew he wouldn't break his promise.

"I know," she said as he buried herself in him. "You promised to get me and you did. That's why, I will _always_ trust you."

The bottomless, empty shell that he had been began to be filled once more. Her voice helped bring back the sounds around him and her warmth allowed him to _feel_ once again. He held tighter, as if _his_ life depended on it, and silently let a couple of tears spring from their confinement as he relinquished in the feeling that was just Lucy.

* * *

**I am way behind on GrayLu week. I am so sorry, but they decided to take out my Internet for whatever reason, and I just got it today!**

**I am so sorry ;-;**

**Please review, thank you :)**

**~Karie**


	6. Chapter 6: Fairy Dust

_**Fairy Dust [fair-ee duhst]**_ – a magical dust related to fairies that could grant wishes, dreams, etc.

* * *

_**Chapter 6**_

Wendy's eyes widened at the sight of the large building. "_This_ is where Lucy-san lives?"

"Yep," said Gray as he parked at front of the entrance.

"Somehow I feel as if my gift will be worth nothing next to everything," she said as she looked down at the box in her hands.

"Hey," he said as he ruffled her hair. "I'm sure she'll be touched none the less. Remember it's the _thought_ that counts, _not_ the price."

"Still…"

"Come on," he replied with a smile as he got out of his car.

It had been days since Lucy's kidnapping. Instead of going to the hospital like any other person, they had brought her home because – of course – they had their own doctor.

What ever happened Richard and his accomplice, he didn't know. He just knew that Luna and the Raijinshu (who he found out were the 3 people he met on the day of the plan), had taken care of it. He was rather curious as to what happened to them; did they go to jail like Luna had planned? Or did something worse happen? In all honesty, he didn't care as long as they _never_ got near Lucy every again.

Lucy.

He froze in mid-step, today was going to be the first day he saw her since that night. He knew she had seen him at his worse, and that scared him more than it scared her. What if she never wanted to see him again? What if she loathed what he was?

His hands shook.

No, Lucy wasn't like that, she would try to understand, right?

"Gray-nii-chan?"

He looked up at Wendy; she was already at the door, waiting for him.

He shook his head. "I'm fine."

He finished climbing up the small steps and rang the doorbell. Not even a moment later, Capricorn opened the door and welcomed them in.

The two entered and were greeted by two rows of maids. The two were greatly shocked. Sure, Gray had been here for a good week or so, but he had been so focused on finding Lucy that he never really paid that much attention to the detail in the place.

"Wow," said Wendy as Capricorn led them to Lucy's room. "This feels as if we're inside Cinderella's Castle."

"Yeah," he said in awe as he looked at the high chandelier hanging on the ceiling.

"It's a shame Ultear-nee-chan had work," she said as she looked at the portraits of the past Heartfilia members.

"Yeah," he replied, almost walking into the Head Butler when he stopped.

He knocked the door.

"Come in."

Capricorn took a step inside. "Lucy-sama, Fullbuster-sama and his sister are here."

"Ah! Perfect! Let them in!"

He opened the door wider for them and closed it behind them.

They found Lucy on a large bed surrounded by her friends. A pang of guilt crossed Gray's heart when he saw her. She was covered in bandages, and her beautiful face had a bandage across her cheek.

"Well, don't just stand there you two. Come in, come in," she said motioning them closer.

The two approached the bed cautiously. When they reached their destination, he asked, "H-how are you feeling?"

"I'm fine, thanks," she replied with her usual radiant smile.

A silence enveloped the room.

"A-ano!" exclaimed Wendy trying to break the silence. "W-we brought you a get well present, I hope you like it."

She pushed the white box wrapped with a red ribbon towards the older blonde. The box felt heavier than she thought, and Lucy had the urge to shake it, but she didn't. She slowly untied the beautiful bow adorning it and opened the top. She gasped at was inside, the others peeked in to see what had caught her breath. Inside was a beautiful strawberry cake.

"Wendy-chan," she said when she closed her mouth. "This is so beautiful – and it will probably taste just as great!"

"Thank you, Lucy-san," she bowed. "But I can't take all the credit. Gray-nii-chan helped me."

"Wendy," he hissed as he turned a bright red.

"You did?" asked Natsu, holding back his laughter.

"Yeah, so?" he pouted and looked somewhere else.

The group laughed good heartedly.

"Well, let's not let this amazing cake go to waste," said Lucy. "Virgo!"

"Yes, Hime-sama?"

"Would you mind brining plates and silverware for us?"

"I already have them, Hime-sama."

The pink-haired maid opened the door wider and pushed in a cart filled with plates and silverware, as well as some cups and drinks. Lucy passed the box to Virgo and the group waited until she had cut the cake into several equal-sized pieces and handed it to them. They waited until Lucy tried it first, since it was technically _her_ cake. They watched as she took a small bite and chewed it carefully. The look in her face said it all, it was delicious, and to Gray and Wendy, it was a success.

The others followed Lucy's example and proceeded to take a bite. Out of everyone in the group, Erza's face had the most satisfaction.

"This is incredible," she meowed as she savored her first bite.

"Coming from Erza," said Lucy. "It's a hit."

The two laughed in relief and joined in the lively chatter that surrounded Lucy. At one point Lucy asked, "How come you never told me you could bake?"

Gray raised an eyebrow. "Who? Me?"

"Yes, _you_," she teased.

"If you must know, I didn't know you cared," he tapped her nose.

She pouted. "_Still_, it's an interesting factoid."

"Why do you care so much, Miss Lucy Heartfilia," he replied in a teasing manner.

"I don't know," she shrugged her shoulders. "I just find anything you do interesting."

He blushed, which made her blush because that was the moment she realized what she had said – and she couldn't take it back.

The two looked away from each other, but Gray had a hard time keeping the smile in his face from growing. The air around them turned light and fluffy, but became awkward for the rest of them.

Jellal cleared his throat lightly.

"Well, we have to go," he said motioning to Erza and himself.

"Aw, why?" whined Lucy as she was brought back from her thoughts.

"We have work in a couple of hours. We just wanted to stop by and make sure you were all right."

"Ah, okay," she replied a bit disheartened.

"Hey, we'll visit you tomorrow," said Erza as she patted the blonde's leg lightly.

"Ouch."

"Sorry," she said as she moved in to hug her.

"Bye, Lucy," said Jellal as he hugged her after.

"Bye, guys. Have a nice day at work today."

The two nodded and waved to the others and left the room.

"Oh that's right! I completely forgot about it," said Levy as she rummaged her bag.

"What is it, Levy-chan?"

"This!" she said as she showed her a book she managed to find.

"Is that-!"

"It is!" she said with glee. "It's Nicholas Sparks' '_The Choice_'! I know you've been dying to read it for a while."

"Thanks, Levy-chan," she said as she hugged her best friend.

"You're welcome, Lu-chan!" she replied as she returned the hug. "It was the main reason I had actually stopped here, but I'm afraid I have to head back home soon."

"Let me guess, work?"

"No, I forgot I had a book report due tomorrow, and I haven't really started," she replied scratching the back of her head.

"Levy-chan!"

"I know, I know! But I haven't found the time to visit you, and today was the only day so…"

"It's all right, you should go home and do that book report."

"Okay, bye Lu-chan."

"Bye, Blondie," said Gajeel as he leaned over for a hug.

"Bye, Brains, bye, Brawns," she replied with a giggle.

And so only Natsu, Lisanna, Wendy and Gray stayed behind for a while longer until Natsu got a call on his phone.

"Hello?"

"_Natsu! Where the hell are you!_"

"I-I'm at Lucy's place-"

"_Do you have any idea what time it is! You were supposed to bring Lisanna over __**2**_ _hours ago!_"

"S-sorry, Elfman. I guess I forgot about the time."

"_Yeah, yeah. Now get your ass over here and bring me back my sister!_"

"Y-yes, sir!" he replied as he stood up and saluted to no one in particular in the room.

"Who was that?" asked Wendy.

"That would be Elf-nii-chan," replied Lisanna as she stood up. "I'm afraid my time is up, Lucy."

"Hey, it's okay. I at least got to see you guys longer this time, thanks."

"Bye, Lucy," said Natsu as he gave her big bear hug.

"Bye-bye," she said as she waved them off.

Now it was only the 3 of them. For a while, they didn't say anything, and that was fine – that is, until the air around them started getting awkward.

Gray didn't know what to say. Should he bring up what happened? Was she concerned about who he really was? Would she break up the small budding friendship that was forming between them? All these thoughts revolved around his head until a knock on the door brought him back to Earth.

"Come in," Lucy answered.

"Lucy-sama, Jude-sama wishes to speak to Gray Fullbuster-sama."

"Oh, I see," she said directing her attention to Gray.

"Excuse me for a moment," he said standing up from his seat and leaving the room.

That left Wendy and Lucy in the room alone. Lucy wanted to say something, _anything_! But nothing came to mind, she noticed that Wendy seemed a bit down casted and she wondered why.

"Wendy-chan?" she asked.

"Y-yes?" she replied having been lost in thought.

"Is everything all right?"

"Y-yes, why do you say that?"

"You seem a bit down, are you sure you're all right?"

Wendy looked at her with big doe eyes.

"You can tell me anything," Lucy said as she patted the young girl's hand. "What is it?"

Wendy took a deep breath in and let it out a shakily.

"I," she started. "I don't want to really become a pastry chef…"

Lucy blinked back. "What?"

Had she missed something? Last time she talked to Gray on the phone, he told her that Wendy told him that she was sure she wanted to pursue that type of career.

"I mean, I like baking and making cute desserts, but I don't love it enough to make it a career," she continued.

Lucy didn't know how to approach this. "So, what do you want to be?"

"I-I want to be a doctor! I want to help people feel better and to save lives!" she replied with a big smile, which in turn made Lucy smile.

"Then why don't you become one?"

"Because…because Gray-nii-chan would be so disappointed," she said in a small voice as she lost her confidence from before.

"What do you mean, Wendy-chan?"

"You know that ever since mama and papa moved on Gray-nii-chan and Ultear-nee-chan have taken care of me, right?"

Lucy nodded. "Yeah, Gray told me."

"Well, you see Gray-nii-chan always wanted to be a pastry chef, and even though it sounds like a girly dream. It was – _is_ – something he has always wanted to do. He loves making desserts, and I don't know if it's because he just does or because mama used to make them for us, but he's always smiling when he makes them.

"But he never became one because mama and papa moved on…He always said it was because it wasn't a very profitable career, but I don't believe him. And I'm scared to tell him I don't want to be one, because when I told him he was so happy and-!"

"Wendy-chan," she said lightly cutting her off. "I'm sure Gray will understand. I mean this is Gray we're talking about. I'm more than sure he would want you to do something you love rather than something that you aren't so sure about. Don't you think?"

"Yeah, but-!"

"But?"

"I-I don't know…"

Lucy sighed lightly and patted the spot next to her on the bed. "Wendy-chan, come here."

"Why?"

"Just do it," she said smiling.

Wendy nodded and did as she was told. She sat down next to Lucy and looked at her. The blonde smiled and pulled her in for a semi-hug.

"Now, why haven't you told Gray you don't want to be a pastry chef?"

Wendy stayed quiet for a minute. "Because it's expensive."

"What's expensive?" she asked as she ran her fingers through her blue hair.

"Medical school, if I told him I wanted to be a doctor then he and Ultear-nee-chan would have to go indebt just to send me there!"

"Then why not apply to some scholarships?"

"I've already applied to so many of them, but I haven't gotten a reply from any – or at least any _positive_ replies."

Lucy thought for a moment. "Have you applied for our scholarship?"

"Your scholarship?" she asked looking up confused.

"Yep, it's called the '_Celestial Scholarship_'."

"That sounds more like a charity."

"I know, but we haven't gotten that far ahead in our plans. Anyway, my mother came up with the idea for teens that don't have enough money to make their dreams come true. My mother was an Astronomy major, but decided to work with my dad in the hospitality business."

"I don't know if I qualify though…"

"You haven't even checked it out yet!" said Lucy.

"I-I know, but the way things have been going, I'm pretty sure someone's already gotten it."

"Believe it or not Wendy-chan, but that scholarship has just been recently created, so not that many people have actually applied. The deadline isn't until next week, so if you want you can still apply."

"What do I have to do?"

"Write about your dream."

"My dream?"

"Yeah," she answered. "Just like you told me right now, but obviously with more detail on how you came to realize that it was what you wanted."

"D-do you really think I will be able to get it?"

"I do, _and _I promise not to interfere with the choosing of the winner – or rather winners, considering there are 5 of them. That way you'll see that you can do it with your own power."

"Thanks, Lucy-san," said Wendy with a smile as she hugged the blonde tightly.

"Ouch, careful."

"Sorry!"

When she pulled back, Wendy said, "You know Lucy-san, you're like a princess."

"Really?"

"Yep! You're young and beautiful and you live in a palace!"

"Thanks, but then what would make you?"

"A commoner?"

"No, I think you're more like my little fairy."

"Why?"

"Because you always make someone happy with just being you. You may not notice it Wendy-chan, but you are a really special girl."

"Thanks, Lucy-san."

"Now the only thing we're missing is a Prince Charming!"

"Right!"

The two giggled with delight and as if answering her request, Gray knocked lightly on the door and peeked inside.

"Is it safe to enter, princess?"

"Were you _eavesdropping_?"

"No! I was simply reaching my destination," he answered with a smirk.

"Uh-huh, right," she replied as she rolled her eyes.

He chuckled. "Sadly, I didn't come here to listen in on your conversation about princesses and fairies, but I'm afraid it's time for me and Wendy to go home."

"Aw! But Gray-nii-chan!"

"I know, I know, I don't want to go either, but it's gotten late, missy," he said giving her the look.

The two girls looked at Lucy's alarm clock and realized he was right.

'_Time sure does fly by when you're having fun,_' Lucy thought with a smile.

"Well, bye, Lucy-san," said Wendy.

"Bye, Wendy-chan," she said as Wendy hugged her carefully this time and hopped off the bed.

"Bye, Luce," said Gray as he approached the bed and hugged her. He wanted to give her a little squeeze but voted it against it.

"Bye, Gray," she replied as she hugged _him_ tighter; just because he couldn't do it mean _she_ couldn't either.

"Take care," he said as he pulled back. What he did next surprised them both. Just as he was about let go of her completely, he held her small face in his large hands and kissed her forehead.

"Goodnight, princess," he whispered and turned to leave, his face burning red.

Wendy waved goodbye and followed her brother as he practically ran out of the room.

When Wendy closed the door, Lucy's face heated up and smoke came out of her ears. She touched her cheeks and felt the warmth from them emit to her hands. She couldn't help the smile the blossomed across her face as she whispered a single sentence.

"Goodnight, Prince Charming."

* * *

**Okay, I know it's small (I'm pretty sure it's the shortest chapter so far), but considering the theme, I really couldn't come up with much to include in this chapter. In a way I guess you could say this was more of a Lucy and Wendy chapter, rather than a Gray and Lucy one.**

**Reviews make me type faster :)**

**~Karie**


	7. Chapter 7: Destiny

_**Destiny [des-tuh-nee]**_ – (1) something that is to happen or has happened to a particular person or thing. (2) the predetermined, usually inevitable or irresistible, course of events. (3) the power or agency that determines the course of events

* * *

_**Chapter 7**_

Luna sighed as she flopped back into her chair.

"This is hard," she whined to Lucy.

She giggled. "Well, you _are_ planning a wedding."

"I _know_, but it's still a lot of work."

"No one said it was going to be easy."

"Cut me some slack, Lu-chan, please! It's been my only day off and I have to spend it all on wedding details."

"Where is Laxus then?"

"_Work,_" she replied as she crossed her arms.

"Shouldn't you both have the same day off?"

"Yeah, but the basketball club has a tournament this weekend."

"Ah, I see."

Luna nodded, she grabbed the list of guests and just as she saw the many names on the paper she put it down along with her head.

"I am never going to get through this," she murmured.

She turned her head to the side. "Hey, Lucy?"

"Yeah?"

"How's Gray?"

"He's fine," she replied as she compared different napkins.

Luna pouted. "Any progress?"

"Yeah, I narrowed it down to these 2 colors," she said as she showed her the light lavender one and a light pink.

"Light lavender," she answered as she pointed to the one in her left hand, "and I was talking about you and Gray."

Lucy jumped. "Me and G-Gray?"

"Yeah."

"W-what progress are you talking about?"

"The obvious one," she said as she sat up. "You know, from acquaintances to friends?"

"O-oh! Y-yeah, we're friends now, really good friends."

Luna smiled teasingly. "Why? What kind of progress did you think I was asking?"

"N-none!"

"Liar!"

"A-am not!"

"Lucy you always stutter when you lie _and_ you aren't even looking at me in the eye."

"Okay, fine!"

Luna smiled, "So…"

"So?"

"So was _there_ any progress?"

"…Define progress."

"You have got to be kidding me," she said and dropped her head on the table.

"I mean, when he came to visit me last week he did kiss me on the forehead."

"He did?" Luna exclaimed lifting up her head. She smiled and went back to the papers in front of her, satisfied with the response she had gotten.

"Hey, Luna?"

"Hmm?"

"Do you believe in the Red String of Fate?"

"The movie or the actual phenomenon?"

"The phenomenon."

"Well, I don't know," she replied as she worked on the sitting charts. She saw from the corner of her eye that Lucy wasn't satisfied with her answer. "I mean, the whole concept of being born for one person is too presumptuous for me. Sure, it's nice and cute that we all have a soul mate, but what about people whose loved ones passed away? Does that mean that they weren't meant for each other?

"The whole point of marriage is to unite two people together who truly love and care for one another, but if they aren't bound by the Red String of Fate, does that mean they can't be happy with one another?" she sighed and put her pencil down when she noticed she was about to break the lead.

"It's a very scary concept you know," she continued in a small voice. "I actually worry about it every now and then. What if - what if Laxus and _I_ aren't for each other? I've known Laxus my whole life, so in more ways than one, I'm terrified that he and I - that _we_ aren't-"

She sighed and covered her face, when she took her hands off her face she said to Lucy. "I'm sorry, but I've just been so stressed."

"I know," replied the blonde with a small smile as she rubbed Luna's back.

When Luna relaxed, she looked at Lucy once more. "Why do you ask?"

"I don't know," she shrugged. "I mean, what were the chances that I would find out about Richard, and only hours later Gray would come in and help? The chances are slim, it doesn't really happen."

"Wait, are you telling me you like Gray? Or did I miss something? Because last I heard, you hadn't told me anything."

"Whaaat?" said Lucy avoiding looking into Luna's eyes.

"_Do_ you?"

"I-I don't know, maybe?"

"Lucy, yes or no?"

"Yes?" she said as she braced herself for the screams and hugs that where to follow, but when she peeked an eye open she only saw her future sister-in-law with her mouth hanging open.

"D-did I black out sometime this week or the one before, or just at all? Because, sure I speculated something here and there, but I didn't want to _assume_ anything."

"No, you were very much awake."

"Then how come you've only told me now?

"B-because - I don't know! I mean I only met him-"

"-Almost a month ago."

"Exactly! But what if it's only a physical attraction?"

"I doubt it," said Luna as she scratched out a few names here and there. "No person with just a 'physical attraction' would go to such lengths to get someone back," she turned to her. "Did you know he basically lived in this office right here?"

"This one?"

"This very one," she nodded. "Oh! I forgot to show you something!" She stood up and went to the computer desk.

"What is it? Ooh, do you have the sketches for the bridesmaid dresses?"

"Yes, but that's not what I wanted to show you," she said as she sat back down and handed her a paper.

"What is it then?" she asked as she took the paper.

Not even a second after she asked, she gasped. The paper had the drawing Luna had seen when she had been picking up papers.

"Luna, this is-"

"-you," she finished. "I found it in the middle of Gray's notes the day we found you. He really cares about you."

Lucy smiled a tiny smile. "Are you saying he likes me?"

"I'm saying there's no way he only likes you physically. Though I have to say I didn't know he could draw."

"I didn't either, but Wendy-chan told me he always wanted to be a pastry chef."

"Really? That's unexpected."

"Yeah, long story short, he couldn't become one because of economic reasons, so I'm guessing that his ability to draw came in handy when he wanted to become one."

"Why doesn't he become one now?"

"I have no idea. Maybe he thinks it's too late?"

Luna shrugged. "Have you thought of asking him to come to my wedding?"

"N-no! Why would I do that?"

"Because you like him."

"So? It's your wedding…"

"Okay, fine. _I'll _invite him."

"Luna!"

"What? Like you said, it's _my_ wedding. I can invite whoever I want."

"Aren't you even going to ask Laxus?"

"No, it's what he gets for skipping out on today."

Lucy giggled. "Whatever you say, Luna. Whatever you say."

* * *

Gray looked up from his laptop to see his little sister looking at him.

"What is it, Wendy?"

"N-nothing!" she answered as she quickly disappeared into the kitchen.

He went back to his work, he had to catch up on it – and fast. He sighed as he rubbed his temples. He liked his work, but he didn't love it. It wasn't exactly what he wanted to do with his life. When he opened his eyes again, he found Wendy starting at him again.

"You sure it's nothing?"

"Well, actually…"

"Yes?"

" Ano…never mind!"

"Wendy," he said firmly. "If there's something you want to say then say so."

"Gray-nii-chan…I…I want to be a doctor!"

Gray blinked back, surprised at his sister's sudden outburst.

"Okay," he said without hesitation.

She didn't hear him. "I'm sorry but I don't really want to be a pastry chef and I-"

"Wendy, I said it was fine."

Wendy blinked twice. "Y-you did?"

"Yeah."

"Y-you aren't angry? Or upset?"

"Why would I be? You're following your dream."

"B-but-"

"I _am_ a bit hurt that you waited until now to tell me, but I've known this for a while."

"…you have?"

"You think I wouldn't notice when my little sister changed her plans? Besides I happened to have listened in on you with you conversation with Lucy."

"So you really _were_ eavesdropping!"

"It wasn't my intention to, but yes, I did. Why did you wait so long?"

"I…I didn't mean to. I just didn't know when or rather _how_ to tell you. I-I was scared that you would be disappointed in me…"

He stood up from his seat and kneeled in front of her chair.

"Wendy, I could never be disappointed in you. You are my precious little sister. If anything, I'm always scared that you will be disappointed in _me_."

Wendy nodded her head in understanding. Gray smiled and went back to his spot behind his laptop.

While he typed away the numbers and compared reports, Wendy asked him, "Gray-nii-chan?"

"Yes, Wendy?"

"Why don't you become a pastry chef now?"

"What are you talking about, Wendy?"

"I'm about to start following my dream, so what about you?"

He sighed. "It's complicated…"

"Why?"

"Because, for one it's a bit too late to start a new career, and two, I've already started my career right now. If I change now, then all that work I did will be in vain. I can't just quit and go to school all of a sudden."

"Then don't quit. Just ask for a part-time or better yet, become an apprentice!"

"Wendy, it's not like being an apprentice is a part-time job. On the contrary it's a full-time job."

She looked down at the table a bit upset.

He looked at her from the corner of his eye.

"I understand that you're trying to help, but right now what matters is you. If there was some way for me to become a pastry apprentice _and _keep my job at the same time, then believe me when I tell you I would have jumped at the opportunity."

Wendy nodded. After a while, she stood up from her seat and walked towards the kitchen.

"I'll make you some tea."

"Okay, thanks," he replied, his eyes still glued to the screen in front of him.

She grabbed a pair of mugs and started heating up some water. If only there was a way to help her brother. She stood there and leaned back against the wall as she waited for the water to heat up. As she pondered at what she could do, she suddenly stood up straight up as the kettle whistled. She quickly turned off the stove and carefully poured the water on the mugs that already had tea bags in them.

Wendy put a cup of tea next to Gray's laptop and took her own to her room. She searched through her desk drawers looking for the card she had been given a while back. When she couldn't find it, she remembered she had given it to her brother. She quietly sneaked out of her room and tiptoed to his. She had never gone in without asking permission, but if her brother knew what she was up to, he would definitely be upset with her.

When she found what she was looking for, she quickly left his room and ran towards her own and locked the door. For whatever reason she felt guilty for doing this, but she _wanted_ to do it, for her brother.

She quickly dialed the number and waited as it rang.

"_Hello?"_

"Lucy-san, good evening," she said, her heart racing faster than it had ever done before. "Remember how you said I could call you if I ever needed anything?"

"_Yeah, why? Did something happen?_"

"N-no, I just need you to do me a favor please."

* * *

"I am afraid we'll have to let you go, Fullbuster-san."

"What?" said Gray when he processed what he had just been told. "Why? Is it because of what happened a couple of weeks ago? I swear, I won't let my personal business come in between-"

"That's not it, Fullbuster-san."

"T-then what is?"

"Word on the street is that you have a talent for pastries. The higher ups heard and want you to transfer to one of their smaller hotels to hone your skills," said his boss, Cana Alberona.

Still shocked, Gray said, "T-then why did you say you had to let me go?"

"Because you cannot work for both us and the other hotel. Though I do admit I could have phrased that better. In a week's time you will be transferred to _Primrose_ _Hotel, _normally you would have to start up as a non-paid apprentice, _but_ someone put in a word that it won't be necessary and will be given an hour pay. That way you won't have any problem with your domestic costs. Any questions, Fullbuster-san?"

"Do I get a say on this?"

"I'm afraid not," she replied. "When it comes to the people on top, there is nothing you and I can do to oppose them – I mean besides getting fired, but that's about it."

Gray nodded and after a while he stood up and offered a handshake to his boss. "Thank you for everything."

"It was no problem Fullbuster-san," she said standing up and shaking his hand.

When Gray exited the office, she sighed and sat back down on her chair. She opened up the hidden tab in her computer and read the horoscope for Cancer.

"Looks like the stars are looking up on you, Gray Fullbuster," she said as she read the horoscope for the day before going back to the documents in front of her.

* * *

**Yes, I know I didn't completely update during GraLu week, but things came up and this chapter believe it or not was hard to write x.x**

**Please review :)**

**~Karie**


	8. Chapter 8: Smell

_**Smell [smel]**_ – (1) to perceive the odor or scent of through the nose by means of the olfactory nerves; inhale the odor of. (4) to perceive something by its odor or scent. (8) to have a particular odor.

* * *

_**Chapter 8**_

For the next couple of weeks, Gray returned home smelling of sweets and sugar. He didn't mind, he was in a world he had wished for after so long. Sure, the work was tough, and although he was pretty much hated by the other three apprentices, he didn't care. He was in his happy place.

Both Ultear and Wendy noticed this change, but they didn't say anything. Instead they asked him about how he was doing and what he had learned that day. They had never seen him talk so animated before; he was just content with his new work that there was no way to break him out of his joy.

One day he come home from work early and spotted his older sister getting ready to leave.

"Going somewhere, Ultear?" he asked.

"Yeah, I have a conference tonight, so don't wait for me for dinner," she said as slipped on her heels.

"All right, take care," he said stepping out of the way for her.

"You too," she said as she walked past him and left their house.

Gray stood frozen for a good minute as the scent that had passed by him engulfed his sense of smell. He knew this scent, it was Chanel – to be more specific, Chance Eau Tendre, the very same one that he associated Lucy with. He didn't know his sister had a bottle of the same perfume, but then again it might have been a gift from her newest admirer.

He took out his phone and scrolled down the list of his last calls. So far it had just been Wendy, Ultear, and work – no Lucy. He contemplated on calling her, but he really wanted to take a shower. He would call her later today, he was sure of that.

However, later never came. Once he was done with his shower, he went directly to make dinner for Wendy and himself. Although Wendy wanted to help, he didn't let her considering he had not cooked anything for them for the past couple of days. After finishing up dinner and washing the dishes he went up to his room while Wendy stayed downstairs to watch TV. He quickly changed into his pajamas which consisted of his pajama bottoms since his shirts always bothered him. It was by some miracle he managed to keep his shirt on throughout the entire night he had met Lucy. He laid down on his bed with the intent on getting comfortable before calling Lucy, but he must have been more tired than he had expected because once his head hit his pillow he was knocked out.

* * *

Lucy looked at her phone as a small pout adorned her cute face while she hung her head upside down from the side of her bed.

"What's wrong, sis?" asked Laxus as he sat down next to her.

"Nothing," she replied as she straightened herself up.

"What do you mean 'nothing'? I know you, and I know that's not your 'nothing' face."

"Leave her alone, Laxus," said Luna as she entered the room. "She's just upset Gray hasn't called her for the past weeks, it's all."

"What!" he roared.

"Luna!"

"Oh, don't make that face, Laxus," she said as she stood between the two. "I'm pretty sure you noticed it too, so don't go acting all surprised."

"But-"

"No buts," she said as she pulled him up. "Come on, you need to go check if all the orders have been placed and if all the invitations have been mailed."

"Shouldn't you be doing that?" he asked as he let her push him towards the door.

"You mean the orders and invitations I had to plan and choose on my own?" she asked with a sweet smile.

Laxus shivered, he knew that look too well, "I-I was busy-"

"Save it," she said and closed the door behind him. She turned to Lucy and walked towards her bed once more. "So Prince Charming has made no contact as of yet?"

"None," she said a bit disheartened. "The last time I talked to him was when he told me he got the job. Do you think I did the right thing?"

"In what?"

"You know…"

Luna laughed. "Of course you did! Do you have any idea how many people would wish someone would give them the career they have always wanted?"

"Yes, but isn't it kind of…unfair?"

"Lucy, the world isn't made of things that are fair or not. It's made up of luck and fate."

"That makes no sense," replied the blonde as she grabbed one of her pillows and hugged it.

"It actually does. Think about it, while maybe you were fated to meet Gray one way or another, it was only luck that you two got along so well from the start. For all we know you could have met him under worse circumstances."

"Like what?"

Luna made to say something about Gray's background, but changed her mind; it was not her story to tell. "I don't know, maybe he could have been an exhibitionist asking you for your underwear."

"Luna!" Lucy blushed.

Luna giggled. "I said it could have been worse, doesn't mean he actually could have, maybe in some parallel universe of some kind, but not here."

"Okay, I see your point," said Lucy with a small smile. "When did you get so wise about all of this?"

"Who knows?" shrugged Luna. "Maybe it's because I grew up earlier than I should have." A dark shadow loomed over her eyes. She turned to Lucy. "Or maybe it's because I've had to keep an eye out on your brother so much."

Lucy giggled. "I'm going for the second one. You have to have lots of patience and wisdom to take care of _that_ mess since middle school."

"Exactly!"

The two sat quietly pondering over different things.

"Hey, Luna?"

"Yeah?"

"When you and Laxus get married, will you be living here in the mansion?"

Luna blinked back. "I don't know, I haven't really thought about that…"

"But will you?" she asked a small frown formed in her face. "Will you and Laxus stay here?"

Luna sighed and pushed behind some strands of the blonde's hair behind her ear. "Why? You don't want Laxus to leave?"

"No," she shook her head. "I just don't want to be alone…"

A flash of understanding crossed Luna's eyes.

"Then in that case, I guess you'll have to get used to seeing my beautiful face every single day until you decide to move out," she said with a small smirk.

"Thanks, Luna, but you guys don't have to if you don't want to…"

"Hey, where are we going to go? My apartment is made for one person only, and knowing Laxus, he's gotten used to the commodities this place offers…not that I can blame him."

"You're such a mom sometimes," Lucy said with a small smile.

"Well, someone has to be in this house dominated by men," she winked.

Lucy giggled. "Thanks, Luna. Honestly, thank you."

Luna went over and hugged Lucy and said with a smile. "You are just too cute sometimes."

Lucy laughed.

* * *

When Gray awoke the next morning to the sound of his alarm, he cursed under his breath. He didn't call Lucy…again. He sighed and tried to find the snooze button in his alarm clock, but he didn't find it. He lifted up his head and noticed it was his phone ringing, before he could even look at the caller he looked at the time and noticed it was noon.

'_Shit!_'

He quickly stood up and answered the call.

"Hello?"

"_Hey, Gray. It's Luna."_

"Luna? How did you get my number?"

"_Don't worry about it. Listen I need you to do me a favor today. I hope you don't mind."_

"I don't really mind, but I'm sort of busy right now."

"_Really? I thought it was your day off…"_

"No, it's-"

He looked at his calendar and realized she was right. "How did you know that?"

"_Don't worry about that, can you do me the favor or not?"_

"I – sure, I suppose I could."

"_Perfect!_"

"Wait, what am I doing again?"

"_Oh! That's simple I just need you to: start making preparations for my wedding cake, any ideas you have send them over, make sure you are attending my wedding, call Lucy, respond to what entrée you want for the wedding, go over your day with Lucy and-_"

"I get it, I get it. I'll call Lucy."

"_**And**__ don't forget to do everything else._"

"I won't," he said as he hung up the call. After taking a quick shower, he finally wondered how on earth did Luna get her hands on his phone number and why did she want him to call Lucy. So many questions, so little answers, but for now he knew the answer as to why his stomach was growling – he was hungry.

* * *

"Lu-chan."

"…"

"Lu-chan…"

"…"

"Lu-chan!"

"Huh? What?"

"About time you reacted," said Levy as she pouted.

"Sorry, Levy-chan, I've had a lot in my mind," replied Lucy sheepishly.

"What's been on your mind?" asked Erza.

"I don't know. I just haven't been able to focus, it's all."

"You sure you aren't hiding something from us?" asked Lisanna.

"Yeah, I'm sure."

"You're a really bad liar, Lucy," said Lisanna seriously.

"What are you talking about?"

"We can all tell there is something bothering you, Lu-chan. I'm a bit hurt that you don't trust us though."

"I do trust you guys!" she said a bit too loudly drawing in the attention of everyone one in the restaurant. She felt her cheeks grow warm as she lowered her voice. "I _do_ trust you guys. I don't see why you would think that?"

"Then tell us, why you haven't been eating?" asked Erza.

"I'm just not as hungry as I thought," she replied as she moved her food around.

"Lu-chan, you have to eat something. You haven't eaten anything since this morning. And that was only toast!"

"Okay, fine," Lucy pouted as she took a bite of chicken. "Happy?"

"Very," smiled her friends.

"Has Gray called you?" asked Lisanna.

She froze on the spot. "N-no," she then looked up at them and smiled. "But I'm sure he's busy, so it's okay."

"Don't worry, Lu-chan," said Levy reassuringly. "I'm sure he'll call eventually."

"I know," she smiled.

They finished their lunch and after paying, left the restaurant. They walked around the mall trying to distract Lucy from her thoughts, which worked for a while until they passed a small fragrance kiosk. She was just walking away from it, until she smelled a familiar scent. She knew this scent, it was Gray's scent, Ralph Lauren's Red Polo. She remembered it clearly because it was the first thing she smelled when she clung to him the day he found her.

"Lu-chan?"

"Huh? Y-yeah?"

"You sure there's nothing going on?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, just-"

"Lucy-san? Is that you?"

Lucy turned around and saw a young woman walking towards them.

"I'm sorry, but…who are you?" she asked, unsure of whom this beautiful young woman was.

"Oh, this is Juvia-san, she helped Gray find you a couple weeks back," answered Lisanna.

"Juvia is glad that Lucy-san is safe and sound now. Juvia has never seen Gray-sama act so irrational before – aside from a handful of times, but that would be about it."

"Gray-sama?" she asked. "How do you know, Gray?" she asked curiously.

"Juvia and Gray-sama used to date back in high school, he helped Juvia overcome many things," she smiled sweetly.

"Oh," replied the blonde, unsure of how to react. Her heart stung as the words processed in her head. '_Of course he would have dated someone so beautiful,_' she thought to herself bitterly. "So are you and Gray close?"

"We were, but Lyon-sama and Juvia are making amends with Gray-sama after some time."

"Ah, I see," she nodded. She wasn't sure what the story was, but she was certain she was intruding in some way.

"…Lucy-san."

'_Crap, what did she say?_' she thought as she realized she had zoomed out. "I'm sorry, I didn't quite catch that."

"That is all right. Juvia was wondering if Lucy-san and her friends would like to join Juvia in searching for a present for Lyon-sama."

'_She's so nice,_' she thought with a smile. She turned to her friends. "If you guys don't mind-"

"We don't mind," answered Erza before Lucy could finish.

The group went back to the small kiosk they had passed before. However, Lucy's mind wasn't as into it as she wanted it to be. All she could think about was the fact that Juvia had become acquainted with the same smell she had found comfort in _before_ her, and that really bothered her for some reason. Was she…_jealous_?

She looked to her crush's ex-girlfriend and sighed before looking at the bottle in her hands. It was _Homme by David Beckham._ She started to recall that time Luna had given her brother a new cologne.

* * *

"_Why are you getting Laxus __**another**__ cologne? Didn't you get him one for his birthday already?"_

"_Yeah, but…it's complicated. Like, I don't want him to have the same scent other girls liked, I just don't like the thought of it," Luna answered as she looked through the different bottles in front of her. "When I'm with him I want him to have a scent only __**I**__ know of, or rather a scent __**I**__ find comfort in."_

"_But won't it take a while for you to get used to it?"_

"_Yeah," she replied picking up a bottle and spraying it on a sample paper. "But it'll be worth it in the end, trust me."_

_Lucy looked at her confused, unsure as to what she meant by that, but shrugged and helped the older girl look for a new fragrance for her brother._

* * *

"Do you like that fragrance, Lucy-san?" asked Juvia. She had noticed Lucy had been staring at that bottle for a while now.

"Uh, I'm not sure, it's a present for someone…"

"Is it for Gray-sama?" she asked innocently.

Lucy almost dropped the bottle. "W-what makes you say that?"

"Gray-sama transferred jobs recently," she answered, confused by the girls actions.

Lucy stayed quiet. _'Oh yeah, I forgot about that,'_ she thought to herself.

"Are you going to buy that?" the older woman asked.

"I-I'm not sure," she said while moving the bottle around in her hand. '_Should I? I mean we aren't even going out, we're only friends…_'

"If you do, I'm sure Gray-sama will appreciate it," said Juvia as she went back to the group of girls.

Lucy looked at the bottle in her hand with determination. The salesgirl approached her with her a smile.

"Everything all right, Miss?" she asked.

"Yes," she replied. "Ano, I'd like to purchase this as a gift for someone…"

The girl took the bottle Lucy offered her. "Wonderful selection, Miss," she said with a knowing smile and led her towards the cash register.

Lucy quickly paid before any of the others saw her and waited as the girl delicately put the cologne in a bag and added blue tissue paper.

"Lucy? You ready?" asked Erza coming around the corner.

"Y-yeah, almost," she replied, almost begging the young girl to hurry up with her eyes.

"And done," she said handing the bag to Lucy. "Thank you for shopping with us!"

Lucy nodded and started to walk away, but not before hearing the salesgirl's last comment.

"And miss, I'm sure your boyfriend will love your gift."

"T-thank you," she replied and rapidly walked over to where Erza was.

Erza looked at Lucy for a minute. "Lucy, are you okay? Your face is red…"

"I-is it?" she asked as she tried to pat down the blush rising to her cheeks.

"Yeah," she replied firmly, before smirking at her. "But I'm sure this wouldn't have anything to do with your _boyfriend_ would it?"

"E-Erza!" she exclaimed turning redder by the second.

The redhead laughed. "I was only joking," she said as she put an arm around her and led her towards the group of girls waiting for them.

By the time they reached the group, Lucy had somehow managed to cool down her cheeks. She expected Erza to make a comment to everyone about her bag, but like always, Erza kept to herself and didn't bring it up.. The others didn't mention it either, so neither did she. Despite the small weight the bag in her hand, she could barely feel it as she left the mall with a smile and a weight off her shoulders.


	9. Chapter 9: Hearing

_**Hearing [heer-ing]**_ – (1) the faculty or sense by which sound is perceived. (3) to listen to; give or pay attention to. (7) to listen to with favor, assent, or compliance.

* * *

_**Chapter 9**_

Gray looked at his phone for the longest time. He and his phone had been at a staring contest for the past 30 minutes. He was contemplating on whether or not he should call Lucy. While he knew he _had_ to call her, he couldn't bring himself to do so. It's not that he didn't want to talk to her – on the contrary he really wanted to, but he didn't know what they would talk about. It had now been a month since he had talked to her.

He looked at the bottle that stood on top of his drawers. When he had been called into the private office of the Head Chef, he had been shocked to see Luna waiting for him. He wondered how she had managed to track him down in the midst of his lunch break, but after everything that had happened with Lucy, he didn't dare question it any longer.

She had been chatting happily with Minerva Orland when he entered, that he had to do a double-take and see if he was in the right office. He had never seen his boss laugh heartily along with someone else, normally it was a sarcastic chuckle or a small smile – but never a laugh. His boss had left the two together and while Luna had gone in casual clothes, she started out with her main purpose and that was to see how the design for her wedding cake had come out.

So far they had agreed on an 8 tier-cake with edible sugar arrangements. The rough sketch he had planned was a good start on how she wanted the cake to look…that is until she decided that instead of having a towering cake she wanted the tiers to be separated on stands. After a bit of doodling here and there he managed to grasp the image in Luna's head. All was well, until she casually mentioned that Lucy's favorite flavor was red velvet just like hers.

At the mention of Lucy's name, he felt his heart beat faster and he tried his best to not blush, but because he tried so hard not to do such a thing he ended up avoiding eye contact with Luna during the rest of her time with him. At the end of their session, she thanked him and left him a phone number to which he could call her if he had any doubts on anything and for future plans that came with the cake. Because the two had spent most of the time deciding how the cake would look like, they ended up making an official date for her to come and taste test the flavors they had in hand with Laxus.

He remembered he had let out a small sigh when she left the office, only for her to come back quickly with a neatly presented gift bag and shoving it in his face without a word, he automatically took it from her wordlessly and watched as she once again exited the office. He hadn't been sure of what had happened but he knew it was Lucy related. He didn't know how, but he did. He had stared at the gift bag in his hands until Minerva had come back, searching for him for a good 20 minutes, and went back to work after leaving it in his locker until the end of his shift.

On his way home, he tried to not look at the beautiful bag in case he stared at it too long and steered away from the street and crashed. It took all his willpower to not turn or see from the corner of his eyes the bag that sat innocently next to him in the passenger's seat as he waited for the light to turn green. When he got home he went straight to his room and locked his door. He opened it slowly, as if he was opening something extremely secretive. After playing with the tissue paper for a good 5 minutes, he finally pulled out a small box and opened it.

He carefully turned the bottle around within his hands, as if his touch would break it any minute now. He had seen this cologne advertised during the few times he watched television. He opened the cap slowly and sprayed it on his wrist to smell it. It smelled good, different from what he was used to, but good anyways. He looked inside the bag and found a card addressed to him. He opened it carefully and read the small note inside,

'_To Gray,_

_I hope you won't let this go to waste._

_Love, Lucy_'

He felt special because Lucy had gotten it for him, not his sisters, not his girly coworkers – but Lucy, he felt…elated. He knew the brand had cost a lot of money, so he would try to use it as little as he could, such as when he would take her out to dinner – _woah_, what? He almost dropped the bottle in his hands, shocked by his own thinking. He didn't want to take her out on a date, but it wouldn't be a bad idea to invite her out to dinner – as a way to thank her for the new cologne…and the new job, too.

He didn't know how she knew, but he had a feeling it had something to do with the fact that Wendy had been happily skipping around the house a couple of days before his transfer to _Primrose_ _Hotel._ He remembered he had done research on the hotel when he had been told by Cana about the transfer. He had learned that the chain of hotels he worked for were owned by Jude Heartfilia – the same man whose daughter he had gotten back from _him_.

He grabbed his phone once more before making up his mind and calling her, however moments before he could dial her number, there was a knock on his door.

"Gray-nii-chan," said Wendy from the other side of the door. "Dinner will be ready in ten minutes!"

"Uh – thanks, Wendy," he said and cleared his throat. "I'll be down in a minute!"

He sighed. Every time he wanted to make a move, there was something else coming in between him and his plans. Maybe this was a sign from the universe telling him that they shouldn't be together…nah. That was impossible, wasn't it? He shook his head, he would call her after he ate dinner.

"Screw it," he murmured as he pressed the call button and waited patiently as he put the phone next to his ear.

* * *

Lucy tapped her pen as she tried to focus on the papers in front of her. While she was technically done with her spring term, she wanted to keep busy during her summer break. Her train of thought was interrupted by her phone's ringtone. She finished her sentence quickly and answered her phone without looking at the caller ID.

"Hello?"

"_Hey. How are you, Lucy?"_

"Gray!" she said surprised to hear the sound of his voice. She blushed a bright red as her heart beat faster and she felt her throat catch a lump. "I-I'm good, how have you been?"

"_I'm great! Oh! Thanks for the gift! I really appreciate it._"

"I-I'm glad you liked it," she thought for a minute before saying. "Wait, what gift?"

"_The cologne I got._"

"H-how did you know it was from me?" she asked almost dropping the item from her hand.

"_Oh, you left a note._"

"I did?" she asked confused. She didn't remember writing anything down, she wanted it to be anonymous.

"_Yeah, when Luna gave it to me there was a note in it._"

'_That explains it,'_ she thought sarcastically as she remembered the day she had given Luna Gray's present. It made more sense now why Luna had winked at her as she took it from her hand.

"Well, I'm glad you liked it," she said.

"_I really do, I was running out of my old one anyway, so thanks._"

She giggled. "You already said that."

"_Yeah, but still…thanks – and don't worry I won't let it go to waste._"

'_Luna,'_ she thought to herself. "I hope you won't, I picked it out with a lot of thought."

'_Why did I say that?_' she thought panicking internally as she tried not to scream at herself for being so direct.

"So," she said trying to avoid the awkward silence lingering over her head. "How's work?"

"_It's great! The other I managed to help create the dessert menu for the month and then today Luna passed by to get ideas for her wedding cake. So far we managed to come up with how she wants the cake to look, but that's as much as we got. If I'm able to go through with this, I will be able to move up from apprentice and maybe work full-time as an assistant instead!"_

"That's great!" she exclaimed. She had never heard him talk so animated before, it was a nice change from their usual chat.

"_Yeah..._" the line went quiet for a moment.

"Gray?" she asked, wondering if maybe the call dropped.

"_Yeah, I'm still here. Hey, I…I never got a chance to say thanks._"

"You already said that like 5 times now," she replied with a smile.

"_I know, but I meant thanks…for the job. I searched up Primrose Hotel, and it's one of your father's hotels._"

"Oh! I didn't do much really. I just mentioned it to Virgo, who mentioned it to Capricorn, who mentioned it to Aquarius, who mentioned it to Scorpio, who mentioned it to my dad. I really didn't do much," she said while blushing, she felt like she was blabbering but she didn't care.

"_Either way…thanks_," his voice full of gratitude, he then cleared his throat as if gaining courage to ask her something. "_Hey, Luce?_"

"Y-yeah?"

"_Are you doing anything next week on Sunday?_"

Her heart skipped a beat before beating faster than before, as if she had been running.

"N-no, I'm not."

"_D-do you think you could accompany me to a business dinner? I know it's all of a sudden, but I can't take Wendy because she's too young, and I can't take Ultear because she has a meeting that night…_"

She felt her heart ache for a moment but she didn't let him notice it. "Y-yeah, I don't mind. Is there something specifically I should wear?"

"_Uh – I don't know, this is the first time I've gone to a business dinner to be honest…_"

"Well, from the ones I've went to with my dad, you're supposed to dress fancy, no casual clothes."

"_Got it, thanks, Lucy._"

"You're welcome," she replied with a small smile. Then she started thinking about what else to talk about, the awkward silence still hung around them.

"_Listen, Lucy I-_"

"_Gray-nii-chan! Dinner's ready!_" she heard Wendy say from the other side of the line.

"_Thanks! I'll be right down!_"

"_Don't take too long or else Ultear-nee-chan will try to cook dessert!_"

She heard him curse under his breath. "_Don't worry, I'm on my way down!_"

She giggled.

"_Sorry about that, but I have to go._"

"It's no problem," she said with a smile.

"_Then, I'll pick you up Sunday at 7?_"

"Sunday," she confirmed, and hung up the phone.

She sighed and flopped back into her chair.

Then a thought came to her head.

'_What am I going to wear?_' she though sitting up and calling the one person who could help her with formal wear.

* * *

Gray sighed after hanging up. He didn't really have a business dinner with anyone, but he didn't find the courage to ask her to join him for dinner for his birthday. He looked at the calendar with a date circled in red. Upon seeing it, he quickly called the restaurant and made a reservation for two before going downstairs and joining his sisters for dinner. He basically ran down the stairs knowing that if he took even a second longer, Ultear would have the kitchen in flames.

* * *

**Because it is Valentine's Day, I have written 3 chapters for you guys! ^-^**

**Happy Valentine's Day my lovelies!**

**~Karie**


	10. Chapter 10: Sight

_**Sight [sahyt]**_ – (1) the power of faculty of seeing; perception of objects by use of the eyes; vision. (4) a view, glimpse (18) to look carefully in a certain direction.

* * *

_**Chapter 10**_

"I have nothing to wear!" exclaimed Lucy almost ripping out her hair in frustration.

"Lucy, relax," said Luna browsing through the blonde's large closet. "I'm sure you have something here that will fit the look you're looking for…"

"Yeah, but I've already worn all of these! I need something that says look at me!"

Luna gave her a skeptical look.

"Didn't you say you were going to a business dinner?" then she thought for a second. "Don't tell me the reason you're acting like this is because you are trying to impress Gray?"

"N-no!" she exclaimed while blushing and avoiding eye contact before replying in a small voice. "But that might be a part of it."

Luna laughed. "Then just ask Erza for something. I'm sure she'll have something more for you considering I'm a bit for conservative."

"Hey, what are you trying to say about me?" Lucy asked while feign hurt.

"Just that you like to show off a little more than I do," the older woman winked at her as she dialed a number.

"Hey Erza, think you can pass by after work?" Luna asked on her phone when the redhead picked up. "No, just Lucy is having an outfit crisis for Sunday…Got it, we'll see you then!"

"What did she say?" asked Lucy.

"She's on her way, you're lucky she has her day off," replied Luna with a smile.

"Yeah, yeah, I know," the blonde said as she flopped back on her bed and sighed. "Do you think he likes me?"

"Of course!" said Luna. "Everyone likes you!"

Lucy raised her head. "You know what I meant."

The brunette giggled as she sat down next to her. "I can't give you the answer to that, only Gray can."

Lucy groaned. "You are _such_ a big help."

"I know!" she said before pondering on something before standing up from the bed.

"Where are you going?"

"I have to find Laxus and see if he mailed out the invitations," answered the brunette as she left the room. "I'll be right back, I promise!"

After she left, Lucy sighed once looked at her phone. She wanted to ask Gray for an opinion on all of her dresses, but at the same time she wanted it to be a surprise. She had never really dressed to impress a guy before, so this was her first time. She remembered those times she had dressed up to catch Natsu's eye back in middle school, and that had turned into a real disaster.

When she pondered over why she liked Natsu back then, she had come to realize she didn't like him as much as Lisanna did. The white-haired girl was practically in _love_ with the dense idiot, but that was no surprise considering they were childhood friends. When Lisanna had told Lucy of her feelings back in their freshman year of high school, she hadn't been all that surprised. Lisanna was a sweet girl, and while Natsu was – and still is – a reckless idiot, there was something about him that just brought you in.

Lisanna had never known about her feelings for Natsu, and she had decided to keep it that way, mostly because Lucy didn't know _why_ she liked Natsu in the first place! While Mira-san knew that Lucy had a crush on Natsu she didn't pry on it as much as she normally did over her other crushes. To say that Lucy had a sucky record of crushes would be an understatement, sure she had a couple of boyfriends here and there, but they were the ones that liked her and confessed to her, as of now, she had yet to confess to anyone about her feelings.

Remembering high school made her remember all the drama that had happened, while it had become an unspoken rule to speak of anything too strongly, they still joked around about some it, like when Natsu and Erza had gone out on a "date" and Jellal hadn't known about it and basically ruined it for them. After that incident, Erza and Natsu hadn't gone out on a serious date together, sadly too because it had been Natsu who had asked her out. It had broken Lisanna's heart, but she kept a brave face on like always.

It had gotten to the point that Lucy couldn't take it enough, so on her 17th birthday they played Seven Minutes in Heaven and pushed them into her bathroom, solely for the purpose of getting them together. But of course leave it to Natsu to start a water fight in the middle of the awkward silence, although her bathroom floor had been soaking wet and all her towels were dripping with water, she didn't mind at all when they had exited the room holding hands with a light blush around their faces.

Thinking about people getting together, she could still remember about the time Laxus and Luna had gotten back together.

Her macho brother had learned Shakespeare's Sonnet 18, '_Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer's Day?_' and recited it to Luna in the middle of their homeroom in a gallant effort to invite her to their spring dance. While Luna was three years younger, she and Evergreen had been able to skip three grades and were in the same graduating class as her brother and Freed.

At first Luna had laughed because she hadn't expected him to pull something so out of character. This was Laxus Dreyar-Heartfilia for crying out loud! He didn't learn Shakespeare; he learned how to take down a 300-pound man in less than a minute!

It was Luna's favorite Shakespearean Sonnet back in high school, but then again she loved anything that had to do with Shakespeare. But the fact still remained that her tough as nails brother had pulled a stunt like that while dressed fully in his uniform with a bouquet of orchids for her. When Luna had retold her of the story, she didn't have to say much considering Evergreen had filmed the entire thing and posted in on YouTube much to her brother's demise. Despite all his pleads on bringing the video down, Luna and Evergreen didn't do such a thing because it was too lovely for her to do such a thing – and because she wanted to have proof when retelling the story.

She sighed. She wondered if the incident that had occurred with Richard hadn't transpired, would they still have been together, or would they have broken up later on? When she thought about their relationship, she realized it had been too perfect. They never fought, they never argued, they never really felt anything but comfortable with one another. They had never passed the kissing stage – or at least that's what everyone thought, which she didn't have a problem with considering she liked keeping parts of her love life private.

After much pondering, she got up from her bed and tried again in her search for the right dress, something that showed off her body without showing anything. Hopefully Erza would show up before she tore her closet apart looking for the perfect dress.

* * *

Gray looked the design in his hands; he wasn't entirely sure how to go about this. Sure he had made other types of cakes before but wedding cakes required a certain 'je ne sais quoi' about them that should just grab your attention the minute you see them. Luna hadn't given him any details about how she wanted it to look such as whether he should do candy decorations or traditional piping or both! He sighed, frustrated that his biggest project so far was all up to him.

"Having problems there, Gray-kun?" asked Sherry, one of his fellow apprentices.

"I am," he replied. "I've never done a wedding cake before, so I'm a bit unsure on how to do this."

"Luckily for you, I specialize in everything that is love," she replied while making her hands form a heart. "Before my husband and I got married, I spent most of my days planning weddings here and there for my friends. Not to mention picking out the perfect wedding cake!" she took the paper form him and inspected what he had so far. "…It's blank."

She turned to him.

He shrugged not knowing what to do.

"Where are the notes? The flavor, the decorations, the sugar flowers, the piping! There is nothing here!" she basically screamed drawing the attention of most of the people around them.

"S-sorry!" he said looking down embarrassed.

"You only have the layout – which I guess isn't a bad thing, but come on! She must have given you something to work with!"

"That's just it," he said putting his head in his hands before turning to her. "She didn't give me much to work with. Only said she would come over for the taste testing next week or so and that how the cake would look would be up to me."

"Wow," she replied. "That's a first."

"Yeah, now do you see my problem?"

"Okay…then let's go with a different approach."

"Like what?"

"What is the couple like?"

"Well…" he thought over what he knew about the two as a pair, the only time he had seen them together was when Lucy had been taken by Richard, but even then he had only seen the two interact when they had found Lucy. "Let's just say it's like seeing a president and vice-president."

Sherry lifted an eyebrow.

"Eh…I don't know," he said rubbing the back of his neck.

"Okay, you said they knew each other since they were in high school, right?"

He nodded, though he was pretty sure they had known each other even before that, but he didn't want to give too much information.

"What would you see them as?"

He thought about that for a good minute before coming up with his answer. "Like the tough, jock delinquent and Student Body President."

"Are you serious?" she asked shocked. "That's a completely different image than the first one."

"I know, that's why I haven't really done much," he said sighing at the end, before he lifted his head with a hint of an idea. He quickly took the piece of paper out of Sherry's hands and began sketching something really fast before he forgot it.

Sherry leaned over his shoulder. "Well, that's rather simple…"

He smirked as he proceeded to add a couple off details here and there. "That's just it, they're so different and complicated that the best way to compliment them both is with something simple yet elegant."

"You think so?" she asked as he watched him add color.

"Yeah," he nodded. "Besides she said she didn't want something overly fancy since they're 8 separate layers. And if I do this," he grabbed the pencil again and added a couple details. "It's so simple, it doesn't need many decorations!"

His boss, Minerva, came by and expected the sketch upside down. Her usual frown turned into a small smirk as she watched Gray add a couple of stands here and there.

"Nice job, Fullbuster," she said before moving on and checking on the rest of the staff.

Gray looked up from his work, surprised by the sudden compliment he almost messed up the sketch he had been working on. He saw the woman scolding another one of the new members and went back to his work with a smile on his face.

"That looks really good," commented a voice from behind him.

"Gah!" he jumped as he turned around.

Standing over him was Lucy's older brother, Laxus. He's lips in a tight frown, although he could see hints of a smile on them.

"Let me guess, Luna didn't give you any specifications," he added taking the sketch away from Gray. He looked at it for a brief moment before smirking. "Not bad."

"Y-you like it?"

"Yeah," he said putting back the paper in front of Gray.

"I'm guessing you're the groom," said Sherry with a wink. "Where's the lovely bride-to-be?"

"She's at work," he answered. "Said I should take my break and see what was happening with our cake. But I think she's just mad that I made one of the brats climb to the school roof."

The two looked at him confused.

"He fell and she's stuck with him now," he explained.

"Oh, right!" said Gray when he remembered. "She's the school nurse."

"Yeah…"

There was an awkward silence between the three before Laxus cleared his throat awkwardly. "Well, I better go back to the school."

The two watched as he left and waited for Minerva to pass by and give him a small white box.

"Wait," said Sherry as she blinked rapidly. "Wasn't that Heartfilia-san's son?"

"Yep," said Gray as he went back to his sketch.

"So…you're making his wedding cake?"

"Yeah," he said still not paying attention and writing down a couple of notes.

"Do you know what this means?" she basically screamed. He turned to her. "You not only have your career on the line, but the name of this restaurant as well!"

"Now you see why I was so stressed out?"

Sherry nodded. "B-but then how can they so satisfied with _that_!"

"Hey! I put effort into _this_!" he said offended.

"Oh, _please_, it had only been 10 minutes before he showed up!"

"If he was fine with it, then I don't have to worry about it," he said.

Sherry pouted. "You sure are lucky, Gray-kun."

"Yeah, I know," he said with a small smile. "I've been really lucky lately."

Seeing the smile on his face, Sherry didn't say much after that and went back to work, allowing him to focus on his main project for the Heartfilia Family.


	11. Chapter 11: Taste

_**Taste [teyst]**_ – (1) to try or test the flavor or quality of (something) by taking some into the mouth. (2) to eat or drink a little of. (13) to have a particular flavor.

* * *

_**Chapter 11**_

Luna had basically dragged Laxus away from his home gym to visit Gray and focus on the cake taste-testing. Of course, cake on its own meant bringing along the only cake expert they knew, Erza. Now normally, Luna and Laxus would have brought Lucy along with them, but the young blonde had an exam. Luckily for them, Erza had been more than happy to take the blonde's place.

The sad thing was that they had to go earlier than the day they had agreed on. This was due to the upcoming national boxing match their school was participating in. Hence why Laxus and Luna could still be found at the high school even though the students were on break, not to mention those few students that had to go to summer school.

The ride to the restaurant was a bit awkward, since Luna was still mad at Laxus for making Sting, one of the students part of the boxing club, climb up the roof. The poor teenager had managed to do fine climbing _up_ to the roof, but on his way _down_, he had missed a step near the end and fractured his arm slightly. To say the blond teenager and his girlfriend, Yukino, had been surprised to see her walk away from them and in the direction of the gym at the end of their story would be an understatement. Their buff coach had been scolded by a small woman in front of the team, not to mention the fact that he had cowered in fear had been a sight to see.

Luna sighed. From the passenger side window, she could see Erza's ecstatic face as she probably texted Jellal or Mira about her adventure to her paradise. From the corner of her eye she saw Laxus's hand twitch next to the stick shift. As mad as she was, she missed the touch of his hand on hers. She didn't want to give in, but she felt as if it was her fault they were in this situation, although technically speaking he was at fault. She unconsciously shifted her hand from her lap and put it near the shift gear. Laxus noticed from the corner of his eye before he grabbed her hand and squeezed it.

She looked at him with her ocean green eyes, surprised by him. He didn't look at her since he was still driving, but he still brought her hand to his lips none the less and kissed the ring that lied on her finger. Quietly, he whispered, "I'm sorry."

The look of shock erased from her face as she gave him a small smile. By now they had reached a red light, looking from the corner of her eye to see if Erza was still busy with her phone, she lightly leaned in towards him and gave him a small, soft kiss on his lips. When she moved back to her seat, she said, "I'm sorry, too."

He grinned. For the rest of the ride the two kept quiet as Erza started talking about the different types of cakes they would taste and which ones would be better over the others.

*~Line Break~*

When they reached their destination, the two walked hand-in-hand with Erza in front of them and met Minerva at the front of the restaurant. They talked a bit before going inside and selecting a flavor. They saw Gray put the last slice into a small plate and aligned it with the rest of the cake slices.

"Ready to begin?" he asked them.

The first choice was a simple vanilla cake with strawberry filling. Erza was more than happy to try that one. Next came the red velvet cake with lemon cream filling, followed by a lemon chiffon with white chocolate filling. The more cakes they tried, the more nervous Gray became. What if they didn't find a flavor they liked, what then? He watched them try about 15 different cake combinations and still not a single reaction from the two. Erza didn't count considering she was enjoying herself by finishing the slices.

Gray anxiously waited for them to finish. When they were done, he couldn't help but notice that Erza had somehow managed to get second and third helpings of the vanilla strawberry cake.

"So which one of the flavors do you prefer?" asked Minerva while handing Erza another slice of cake.

Gray watched as the two looked at one another and simultaneously said, "The lemon chiffon with white chocolate filling."

He blinked. While he knew the two had been together for a while, he didn't expect for them to be in sync with one another. Luna tilted her head and gave Gray a confused smile. "Everything okay, Gray?"

"Y-yeah," he said shaking off his surprise.

She nodded before turning to Minerva and saying, "I think we should go and discuss the price for the cake, including any extra charges before it gets any more late than it already is."

Laxus nodded.

Minerva smiled a kind smile and directed them to her office. "Very well, right this way, please."

The couple nodded as Erza stayed behind and continued eating the cake as if there was no tomorrow.

'_She sure has a sweet tooth,_' Gray thought as he picked up the rest of the plates to clean them up.

"STOP!"

Gray froze in place and turned to the scarlet-haired woman. "Y-yes?"

She stood up from her seat and somehow managed to put all the extra slices in her plate to form a whole cake in her plate at the speed of light. She returned to her seat and turned to him, "You may proceed."

He chuckled lightly. "You like cake a lot, don't you?"

She turned to him, still eating her new creation. "I do," she replied with a small smile. "Lucy and Luna had been the ones to introduce me to these heavenly pieces."

"Lucy did?"

She nodded. "I used to think that liking sweets wasn't good for my image back in the beginning of high school. You know, whether I look like it or not, I used to be quite the fighter back then."

'_Believe me, we can all see it,_' he thought as put away the plates in the sink. He started wiping the table with such concentration that he missed most of the things she said afterwards.

"Gray!"

"Huh?" he said.

"I said, at time are you picking up Lucy tonight?" she asked him once more, a bit annoyed for being ignored.

"At 7," he replied.

"Well then shouldn't you be on your way home to get ready?" she asked pointing to the clock on the wall. It read 5:30.

'_Shit!_' he mentally cursed. He knew he had forgotten something that day and that been to tell his boss that he needed to leave work early.

Erza saw his hesitation and mentally rolled her eyes. "Just go," she said. "I'm sure they'll understand."

He looked once more at Minerva's closed office before making up his mind. "Thanks," he said and left the kitchens.

Erza sighed with a small smile. While getting another piece of the strawberry cake, it had occurred to her that Lucy had mentioned that Gray had invited her to a business dinner. She looked back at the office where the couple was in. If Gray had a business dinner, then what was Minerva still doing here? Shouldn't she have left too?

'_Unless_…' thought Erza as she narrowed her eyes dangerously, scaring a good half of the kitchen staff before shaking her head with a small smile. '_Nah, besides Minerva is the Head Chef, it's only natural for her to leave last and makes sure everything is in order._'

When Erza had basically finished 2 strawberry cakes, much to the staff's amazement and horror, Luna and Laxus appeared out of Minerva's office along with the Head Chef herself.

Luna asked Erza, "Where's Gray?"

"He left," she replied obviously.

"Already?" asked Laxus.

"So much for surprising him with a birthday gift," said Minerva holding up a blue gift bag.

"Wait, what?" said Erza as she dropped her spoon.

"Yeah, today is Gray's birthday," said Luna picking up the spoon from the ground.

"But I guess he had already made plans," sighed the brunette as she put her hands on her hips. "Maybe I wasn't paying attention when he told me…"

"Wait, didn't he make dinner reservations or something?" asked Laxus.

"Yeah," said Luna and Erza together.

"Maybe that's where he's taking Lucy," added Luna nonchalantly.

"He's what!"

"Oh, grow up! You saw this coming and you know it!" said Luna in a teasing manner.

Laxus pouted and looked away. "Doesn't mean I'm okay with it," he replied in a low voice.

Luna giggled before grabbing his arm. "Let it go, already," she said with a smile. "That reminds me, I have to help Lu-chan get ready, so let's go."

The three bid their goodbyes to the Head Chef and left the hotel. One happy with a grumpy expression because his sister was going on a "date," another with a smile on her face because she had managed to eat all sorts of cakes, and the last excited for the little's sister's "date" to come.

* * *

Lucy finished putting the last touches on her makeup when Virgo knocked on her door.

"Hime-sama," she said as she entered.

"Yes, Virgo?" she asked turning around.

"Fullbuster-sama has arrived," she answered.

"Okay!"

Lucy stood up and grabbed her purse next to her. She walked out with Virgo behind her. Her heart was racing with each step she took, when she had reached the grand staircase she had to take a deep breath to calm herself so she wouldn't fall as she went down the stairs.

When Gray looked up from the bottom of the stairs, he couldn't help but have his breath taken away when he saw Lucy. He almost dropped the small bouquet of roses he had brought when she reached the last step.

"Hey," she said as she stepped near him.

"Hi," he said.

The white one shoulder dress she was wearing did no justice to her beauty. Her hair was in soft waves and her lips were a cherry red. It took him a minute to remember how to speak. He lifted up the bouquet and handed it to her.

"For you."

Lucy smiled and took them in her hands.

"Thanks," she took a small whiff. "They smell lovely."

He smiled as she turned to Capricorn.

"Would you mind putting these in a vase up in my room?"

"Of course, Lucy-sama," replied the butler as he took the roses from her as she turned to Gray.

"Ready?" he asked her while offering his arm to her.

"Yeah," she replied as took it and allowed him to lead her to his car outside. He opened the door for her and closed it when she was in. He jogged back to his side, got in and started the engine.

"You look wonderful," he said as they left the Heartfilia premises.

She blushed. "Thank you," she said. "I hope I didn't over dress."

"To where we're going…not really," he replied with a small chuckle.

"Where are we going anywhere?" she asked.

"It's a surprise," he said with a wink.

"But isn't this a business dinner? Shouldn't I have the right to know?"

He flinched lightly, but not enough for her to notice. He felt kind of guilty for not telling her the real reason as to why they were going to dinner. He always believed that honesty was the best policy and that included in both his personal and professional life.

"Actually, Lucy..."

"Hmm?" she asked him while starring out the passenger window, oblivious to his inner turmoil. He was really contemplating on making up an excuse other than wanting to spend his birthday with her, but one look at those chocolate brown eyes – eyes whose innocence had been tainted by one too many people, he backed out.

"I lied," he said under his breath.

"What?" she said giving him her full attention.

"There is no business dinner tonight," he continued, still looking at the road ahead of them, scared of her expression.

"What? Did it get cancelled or something?" she asked innocently.

"No," he said taking a small breath. "There, uh, there never was a business dinner."

"Then why are we going to this mystery restaurant?"

"Because I," they reached a red light, allowing him to lower his gaze. "I, uh, wanted to…" His voice was so low Lucy hadn't been able to catch much of what he said.

"I'm sorry, I didn't catch that," she said.

He sighed and leaned his head against the wheel. '_Thank God the light is still red,_' thought Lucy.

He turned to her, a small blush crossing his face. "I wanted you to spend my birthday with me…"

He watched her face intently, his embarrassment rising with every passing second until she burst out laughing.

"W-what?" he asked lifting his head up. He noticed that the light had just turned green and was more than glad to have to focus on something else.

"I-I'm sorry," she said, her laughter still not diminishing. "B-but I can't help it." She laughed for another couple of moments until only a couple of giggles escaped her lips. She gave him a smile. "You know you could've just asked instead of coming with this little scheme," she teased him.

"I-I know," he said, his blush returning once more. "I just didn't think you would say yes…"

"So making up an excuse about a supposable business dinner worked better for you?" she asked while giggling.

"I hadn't really put much thought to it," he said as he rubbed the back of his neck. When they parked he turned to her. "You aren't…mad at me?"

She shook her head with a smile on her face. "Why would I get mad on your birthday?" she asked him.

He gave her a smile of relief before exiting the car and opening the door for her. He offered his hand to her which she gladly took. The two walked inside the restaurant hand-in-hand, while both their hearts were racing at the same time, neither wanted to let go. To distract herself, Lucy looked around the elegant restaurant.

She spotted an aquarium tank that ran along the back of the restaurant. While watching the fish, she thought she had seen her brother along with his fiancé, but shook her head because she had been more than positive that they had been home when she left doing something wedding related.

"I have reservation," said Gray bringing her out of her thoughts. "Fullbuster."

The hostess scrolled down the list until she found the name.

"Ah!" she said when she found it. "Fullbuster, table for 2, correct?"

He unconsciously squeezed Lucy's hand, making her blush at the action. "That's right."

She smiled at the couple. "Right this way please," she said and led the two to a table near the back. She handed the two a menu and said, "A waiter will be with you shortly to take your order," and left.

The two looked at the menu for a minute before an awkward silence fell upon them. It had been a good two minutes since Lucy found something that she liked and she was getting tired of reading the menu twenty more times. Se peaked over the menu and noticed that Gray was looking at her, his menu down and a smile on his face. She blushed and ducked her face back into the menu. She looked up again and he was _still_ looking at her, she couldn't take the intense look in his eyes so she asked.

"W-what?" she asked putting down her menu. "Do I have something on my face?"

He shook his head. "No," he said. "I just can't get over how beautiful you look tonight, it's all."

Somewhere in the restaurant they heard the screeching of a knife against a plate. The two turned towards the sound but found no one, only couples enjoying their meal.

In the direction of the sound a young woman with black hair and ocean green eyes told her date in a low voice so that only he could hear. "Will you _relax_?"

Her date, a man with dark hair and orange eyes replied through gritted teeth, "I _can't_ help it."

"Oh come on," said the woman. "He _saved_ Lucy, and now you're telling me you don't think it's a good idea for them to enjoy a dinner together, Laxus?"

"That's just it," Laxus said. "What if he has other motives?"

She gave him a deadpanned face. "You're kidding me, right?"

"I'm serious, Luna."

"Lucy is twenty-two – twenty-_three_ really since her birthday was 2 weeks ago!"

"Still doesn't change the fact that I don't trust him," he said as he looked at them with his eyes narrowed.

"Okay, that's it," said Luna as she took off the black wig.

"What are you doing?" he asked worried for a minute as he tried putting her wig back on.

She pouted. "You take me out to dinner and all you're doing is spy on your little sister."

He felt a guilt trip coming his way.

"I mean, the last time you took me out to dinner was when you proposed, and even then that had to be cut short…"

"Luna-"

"-but hey, if you want to sit here and _ruin_ a man's birthday, than be my guest," she said crossing her arms and looking away from him.

"All right, all right," he said putting his hands up in defeat. He took her hand in his. "Then let's just ignore them and make this about us."

Her lips twitched in a small smile before returning back to the pout. "Really?"

"Really," he said.

She smiled, then they caught Lucy's harmonious laugh. "You sure you're going to be all right?" she teased her fiancé as she watched him try not to look in the direction of the laugh.

"Y-yeah," he said taking a small deep breath. He caught the eye of a waiter and called him over. "I'm going to need a bottle of your finest wine."

"Right away, sir," replied the waiter before leaving.

Luna raised an eyebrow. "This is your way of handling it?"

"I'm working on it," he said as he tried to focus on the woman in front of him, ignoring her teasing eyes.

* * *

"I can't believe you actually let her," said Lucy.

"I couldn't just tell her no," said Gray. "The look on her face when she saw me clearing off the plates was priceless. It was as if the world had been ending."

"That's Erza for you," she smiled.

She took a bite of her dessert and allowed the sweet flavor overpower her sense of taste. Luna and Laxus had come to this restaurant before, and every once in a while they would bring her back a slice of cake or a crème brûlée. But right now, this tasted better than all those times they brought her dessert. She remembered one of those times she had caught a commercial for a romantic restaurant, it's ending slogan had been "food always tastes better when you share it with someone you care." She hadn't believed it back then, but now she saw what they meant.

They had been enjoying their chat when Gray's phone rang.

"I'm sorry," he said and looked at his phone. "I really have to take this."

She shook her head. "Go ahead."

He answered the phone and motioned the waiter to bring them the check.

Lucy sipped a bit of her champagne as she tried not to eavesdrop on the conversation, which was kind of hard to do when he was talking right in front of her. When the call ended he turned to her.

"Sorry about that," he apologized. "I forgot to tell Wendy about my plans for today so she's been waiting for me back home with Ultear to celebrate."

"Don't worry about it," she said as he signed the receipt and put his credit card inside the check book. "It's nice that your sisters are doing something for you."

"Yeah," he said as he handed the book to the waiter and waited for him to leave. "Though I wish I had told her so they wouldn't be waiting so late."

Lucy gave him a confused look until she decided to check the time on her watch, it read 10:20. "Oh my God, your birthday is almost over! We have to get you home before it's over, I can't believe we've spend so much time here!"

He chuckled. "Time passes by quickly when you're having fun," he winked at her.

She blushed lightly, but smiled none the less. She couldn't believe they had really spent so much time on dinner. Now that she thought of it, she hadn't really done much to celebrate Gray's birthday, only eat dinner and keep his sisters waiting for him back home.

When they left the restaurant, Lucy couldn't help the small frown that crossed her lips.

"What's the matter, Lucy?" asked Gray as he drove back to the Heartfilia Mansion.

"I didn't really do much to help you celebrate your birthday," she answered as her shoulders slumped forward.

"Well to be fair, I didn't tell you," he said.

"I know, but still!" she said not willing to let the fact go. "Is there something you want? A new car? New watch? Anything?"

"Hey now, no need to go off spending our dad's money like it's nothing," he chuckled.

"Okay, but at least let me make it up you."

"I told you it was fine-"

"No! I'm not taking no for an answer!" she said defiantly. "Now come on, there must be something you want…or need."

He thought for a moment. For a brief second he almost answered 'you,' but that could be taken the wrong way.

"All right, how about you and I go somewhere?"

"Like where?" she asked.

"That's a surprise," he said.

"Oh come on!"

"What?"

"Why won't you tell me?"

"Because my gift from you will be your face when you find out."

"Fine," she said crossing her arms and pouting a bit, although the laugh in her eyes said otherwise.

When they reached the mansion, Gray got out of the car before Lucy could even unbuckle her seatbelt.

He opened the door and offered his hand. She took it and got out of the car. "So next week?"

"Yeah," he said.

The two stared at one another for a good 5 minutes until Lucy had to look away when she realized what she had been doing.

"Well, goodnight," she said tippy toeing to try and give Gray a kiss on a cheek. Once she did she tried not to run to the door of her home. She turned back to him as she opened the door. "And Gray?"

He turned to her, masking his shocked expression from before. "Yeah?"

Her cheeks became a soft pink. "You looked handsome tonight," she smiled and closed the door behind her.

She leaned on the door for support as she lightly touched her lips with the tips of her fingers. It had been then that she realized that he had been wearing the cologne she had gotten him last week. Not even the small frown on her brother's face when he found her still leaning on the door could make the smile or blush on her face disappear.

* * *

Outside, Gray sat inside his car, still not getting over what had happened. He touched the side of his cheek, the spot where Lucy had kissed him felt warm. He laid his head on the steering wheel; she was going to be the death of him. He didn't have to look in the mirror to know that his face red. He probably would have stayed that way if his phone hadn't started ringing.

He picked up the phone and before the other person on the line could say anything.

"I'm on my way, Ultear," he said, he couldn't help but notice that his voice had a smile to it. "I just dropped off Lucy."

"_All right,_" she replied with a smile. "_Just don't stay there all night._"

He chuckled. "I won't. I have a feeling if I did, her brother would kill me."

She laughed. "_See you soon._"

"Yeah," he said and hung up. He turned on the engine and drove out to the main road. While on his way home, he couldn't help but think to himself. '_Best. Birthday. Ever._'

When he reached his house, not even Ultear's teasing could take the smile he had plastered on his face for the rest of the night.

* * *

**Happy Valentine's Day you guys :)**

**~Karie**

**P.S. If you guys want to see Lucy's dress for this chapter you can find it on my website. I have a link to it on m profile. ^-^**


	12. Chapter 12: Touch

_**Touch [tuthch]**_ – (2) to come into contact with and perceive (something), as the hand or the like does. (5) to come into or be in contact with. (27) to place hand, finger, etc., on or in contact with something.

* * *

_**Chapter 12**_

"Ready for your date with Gray?" asked Luna as she watched Cancer finish putting Lucy's hair into soft waves.

"It's _not _a _date_!" the blonde huffed as she inspected her new hairstyle. "Thank you, Cancer, this is perfect!" she said and turned back to Luna. "Why do you keep saying that it's a date, when it's _not_!"

"Well," said Luna as she counted off her fingers. "For one, you got your hair done. Two, you went shopping for a new outfit just two days ago for this very occasion. And last but not least, three, you said he invited you to a day out _alone_ aka a date! Why won't you just admit it?"

"Because he didn't say the word date, hence it is _not _a _date_!"

"All right, fine," said Luna putting her hands up in surrender. "Say what you say, _I_ will still think of it as a date, then that's fine. But don't forget."

"Forget what?" asked Lucy as she put on her make-up.

"The Nile is not only a river in Egypt," she said as she flipped through a wedding dress catalog.

"_Luna!_"

"What? It's true," she replied with a teasing smile. "Okay, fine! I won't tease you anymore. Geez, you're no fun…"

Lucy sighed. "I'm just nervous, okay? I haven't gone on a date _date_ since Richard, and I don't want to mess this up."

Luna's eyes flickered for a second at the sound of Richard's name, but continued her conversation with Lucy none the less.

"You'll be _fine_," she said as she stood up from the bed and walked towards Lucy's vanity. She arranged the blonde's hair as she spoke. "Just remember, if anything happens, just call me and I'll be there, okay? You know I'm always here for you, Lu-chan."

"Thanks, Luna," replied Lucy as she stood up and hugged the older woman in a tight hug. When the two let go she said, "Well, time for me to go."

"Good luck," said Luna squeezing Lucy's hands. "And have fun."

"I will!"

The blonde grabbed her black purse and rushed down the stairs as she went over her last text messages.

Last night, she had gotten a message from Gray telling her that Wendy was borrowing his car to go her friend's house across town. He'd rather have her driving home instead of taking the bus late at night. He had told her to bring cash and comfortable clothes. Not being very specific, she went shopping for something that would be appropriate.

They had agreed on meeting at Hana Station and from there on they would go to the surprise destination. Lucy was a bit nervous; she had never really travelled through public transportation, so she was a bit weary of how this would happen.

"You okay, Lucy?" asked Loke from the front.

"Y-yeah!"

"Hey, if you don't want to go just say so," he said with a small smile.

"I-it's not that," she said. "I'm just a bit nervous…"

"If you want to leave, just call me and I'll be there in a blink of an eye."

"I'll be fine," she replied. "Why does everyone think that I can't take care of myself?"

"Well-"

"-it was a rhetorical question!"

He chuckled as the car came to a stop. "Here we are."

She gulped, now she was more nervous than before.

"Well…wish me luck," she said as she opened the door.

She took a deep breath and got out of the car. She closed the door and walked towards the inside of the station. She looked around and noticed many different people coming in and out of the station. She tried to look for Gray, but she could barely make out the faces of the people around her. She was just about to call him from her cellphone when she saw someone waving their hand.

"Hey, I thought we were going to meet _inside_ the station," he teased her, his hands now on the inside of his brown jacket's pockets.

"I am inside," she said.

"No, you're outside," he pointed towards the area behind the automatic gates. "_That's_ the inside."

"Oh!" she said, a small blush forming against her cheeks in embarrassment.

"What? You've never used public transportation before?" he joked, only to get a deeper blush as a response. "Y-you haven't?"

"There's never been a reason for me to since I have Loke," she said avoiding his gaze.

"Well, come on, Princess," he said taking her hand and leading her to one of the machines against the wall.

They waited in line for a brief 5 minutes until it was their turn. With her left hand still in his right hand, he used his left hand to press the buttons. She tried to pay attention to what he was doing but her mind couldn't focus on anything else except for his hand. It was as she started worrying that her hand might start sweating when he let go. She felt a bit disappointed when her hand went back her side, warm without the coolness of Gray's hand.

"Here," he said as he picked up a blue card from the pick-up area at the bottom of the machine.

Lucy took the card from him and looked at it confused. "What is it?"

He started walking as she followed him towards the automatic gates that led to the inside of the station.

"It's a day pass," he explained. "This card will work for all types public transportation for a good 24 hours." He pressed his own blue card on the large green circle. "Just put it on top of this and-" The gates opened. "-it opens and you go in."

Lucy cautiously stepped forward and pressed her own pass on the green circle. She quickly passed through the gates as they opened and joined Gray inside as she took in her surroundings. There was an elevator at the back and an escalator that went up with a set of stairs on either side against the walls.

"Come on," said Gray as he took her hand once more and led her to the ascending escalators. Lucy noticed that the colors were rather bland and it had a weird smell. It didn't necessarily smell bad, but it didn't smell that good either.

When they reached the top she noticed that there was another set of stairs and another escalator, however instead of there being another elevator there was a path for people to go to the other side. There was a sign on top of the entrance that said "Northbound Trains," while by the stairs it said "Southbound Trains."

"We're taking a Northbound Train," said Gray and led her to the path that led to the other side of the station.

When they reached the opposite side, she noticed that it basically looked like side they had been at. Gray once again led her to the escalators, and once they reached the top, he led them to the side and waited for the train, oblivious to the fact that he was still holding Lucy's hand.

"We'll wait for the train here," he said and looked around. "Sorry I can't find you a place to sit, Luce."

"I-it's okay," she said, rather self-conscious on how a group of teenagers were looking at them.

"You sure?"

"Y-yeah," she said and looked down, embarrassed by the fact that he had squeezed her hand when he asked.

Gray followed her sight of line and realized that he was still holding Lucy's hand.

"S-sorry," he said letting go and sticking his hand in his jacket's pocket as a light blush crossed his face. "I grabbed your hand without thinking. I normally come with Wendy and because she's so small, I grab her hand so I don't lose sight of her," he said trying to explain his actions.

"I-it's okay! Really!" she said waving off his excuse. "I didn't really mind!"

This caught both of their attention.

"Y-you didn't?" he asked, a darker blush crossing his face.

Unable to form words with her lips, she shook her head in response.

If there had ever been a time when Lucy had been the cutest, this beat them all. She was so cute he could just hold her and never let go – he would have too if it hadn't been for the announcement of the arrival of the train. He hesitantly took her hand in his – this time conscious of what he was doing and stepped on the train with Lucy in tow. He searched for two vacant seats, but found none, so he offered to stand next to Lucy. As she sat down, the train continued on its journey.

The two were rather quiet, that is until Lucy began her questioning once more as to where they were going. Gray, of course, was having none of that and would go back to his usual teasing, not letting a clue slip about their surprise destination. They continued with their playful banter until Lucy noticed an elder woman mount the train and not find a seat. The woman stood near the couple, and much to Lucy's dismay, no one seemed to get up and give up their seat for her. She had come to notice that the train had become rather packed, so it was only natural that no one would want to stand so close to other strangers. She cleared her throat a bit and caught the woman's attention.

"Excuse me, obaa-san, would you like to sit here?" she asked politely while pointing to her seat.

"Oh I couldn't-" said the older woman.

"-it's no trouble, really," said Lucy standing up, she had a bit of trouble keeping her balance in the moving train, but she managed.

The older woman smiled and said, "thank you," before taking her seat.

Gray smiled and looked down at Lucy. "That was a nice thing to do," he said.

"Well, someone had to," she replied with a smile. The train's brake could be heard as it reached the next stop, making Lucy lose her balance once more.

Luckily for her, Gray managed to stop her from falling by grabbing her waist and pulled her near him. He looked up from her and through the windows noticed that the stop had more passengers than the previous ones, meaning that he and Lucy would be squished if they stayed in their current spots. He quickly spotted a clear area where bicycles could be put in so they wouldn't take up too much space. He walked towards it, his hand still around Lucy's waist and leaned back against the windows of train.

"Um, G-Gray?" she asked when his hand didn't move from her waist.

"Yeah?" he asked as he watched people come in through both doors of the train cart.

"Y-you can let go of me now," she said.

"Sorry, but I can't," he replied.

"W-why?" she asked, her cheeks getting redder by the second.

"I saw how clumsy you are," he said with a smirk. "If I let go of you now you're going to fall."

"A-am not!"

"Oh really?" he said with a devilish grin and let go of her waist as the train started again. Although the train cart was packed, there was enough space for them to move around a bit.

The moment Gray's hand left her waist, she was so surprised that she almost went tumbling towards the person on her right. Luckily for her, Gray managed to catch her in time before she bumped into the person.

"T-thanks," she said as she pressed herself closer to him.

The two stayed that way for the rest of the ride, neither saying a word. It had gotten to the point that Lucy couldn't stand being closer to him without saying a single word. She _wanted_ to make a conversation, but nothing came to mind, only the pounding of her rapid beating heart through her ears. It had taken her a couple of minutes until she could finally ignore her pounding heart.

"Hey, Gray, I-" she couldn't finish her sentence as she felt someone touching her, not by mistake, but on purpose.

He looked down at her when she didn't finish her sentence. Then he felt her tense against him, her eyes squeezed tight, and her body trying to get closer to him. He was confused as to what she was doing until he felt her shiver as she tensed once more. He narrowed his eyes and looked at the people around them. It could be any of them; he didn't want to make a scene, especially when he didn't know who the culprit was.

There it was again! If this kept up, Lucy was pretty sure she was going to find herself in a compromising position between her and Gray and she _really_ didn't want that. She closed her eyes tighter and pressed her closer towards Gray, just when she was sure the pervert would escalate in his attacks, she heard Gray calling her.

"Hey, Lucy."

"Y-yeah?" she answered trying to sound as casual as possible.

"Look at the view," he said while strategically turning them around so that she would be facing the window and his back would protect her from any other pervert out there.

"Wow," she said. "It's so pretty."

"Yeah," he said. '_But not as pretty as you._' Gray shook his head, if this kept up, he might really not be able to stop himself from hugging her.

Before he could make another comment, someone bumped into him from behind making him push forward closer to Lucy.

"S-sorry," he said as he put his hand on the frame of the window to stop himself from crushing her small body with his larger one.

Lucy blushed as she felt the heat of his body on her back, ironic considering that before she could have sworn he was a walking cooler. The two rode in silence the rest of the ride, hoping to ease the awkwardness between the two would disappear, but sadly for the two, it didn't. The only thing the two could think about was the closeness between the two. When they reached their destination, Gray made sure that Lucy would be right behind him.

As they stepped outside of the station he said, "Welcome to Oak Town."

"Wow, it's so pretty," she said taking in the beauty of the natural historic architecture surrounding her. After taking in the beautiful sight she asked him, "What are the plans for today, Mr. Tour Guide?"

"Well, first we'll visit a nice small restaurant that's around here. Lyon told me from the last time he brought Juvia that it had the best sandwiches."

"Lyon and Juvia did?"

"Yeah," he said with a smile. "We've kept contact after-" he stopped.

The reason he, Lyon and Juvia were back to their little trio was because Lucy had gotten taken. He didn't know whether he should be telling her this with a smile or not, he wasn't ready to share his past with her yet. Luna had been an exception, but that may have been because she had shared something with him first.

"After what?" she asked him when he didn't continue.

"Oh, um, after what happened a couple of months ago," he said trying to avoid saying as much as possible. "Back in high school we had a falling-out," he said avoiding her eyes.

"Oh," she said squeezing his hand unconsciously.

She wanted to know what about what had happened between the three, but knew it was none of her business. For some reason there was a small pang in her heart, it's not that she was jealous or anything…was she? She had come to terms that whatever happened between him and Juvia was none of her business.

They walked for a while as Gray was told her a bit more about the town. She kept nodding every once in a while to show him that she was paying attention, even though every once in a while she would catch herself thinking back to the beautiful young woman Gray had dated before.

She had talked to Lyon before, only once, and that was because she had to give her statement to the police and her father didn't want a group of detectives at their home. He had seemed nice, and he didn't press her for answers when she remembered what happened, more specifically she stayed quiet when he asked her about what had happened to Richard. She had turned pale and even to a stranger they could tell that she was not comfortable with the topic.

When they reached their destination, they sat down on a table inside and waited for a waitress to show up and hand them their menus. When they ordered, they sat together quietly. At this point, Gray noticed his partner's unusual quietness. He thought that she would enjoy the little tour while getting to the restaurant, but for some odd reason she was quiet, and he didn't quite know why.

After a good five minutes, their sandwiches arrived and they took a bite.

"It's delicious," she said with a small smile.

"Yeah, better than I expected," he replied as he decided to take another bite.

She nodded before asking, "How's Wendy-chan?"

"She's good," he replied. "She won a scholarship for school."

"Really?" she said surprised.

"Oh come on, don't act all surprised," he said with a teasing tone. "The _Celestial Scholarship_? I know you know that she got it."

She giggled a bit. "To be honest I haven't really looked at the list recipients yet."

"You're kidding, right?"

"Nope," she said with a smile. "I let Aquarius handle that since she's my father's P.A."

"P.A.?"

"Personal assistant," she answered before taking a bite of her sandwich.

"Either way, thank you," he said.

"What for?"

"You gave us new opportunities that we would never have had before."

She blushed. "I-I only did what any other person would have done."

"No, you didn't," he said as he shook his head. He reached forward and covered her hand with his larger one. "Not many people would have gone that far for someone who's just a friend."

She wanted to ask him what he meant by that. Did he mean like a best friend or something even more than that. Before she could even say anything, the waiter came back and asked,

"Excuse me, would you like a refill sir of your iced tea?"

Gray looked at him and nodded. "Yes, please, and one for her as well," he said, his hand still over hers.

She didn't mind. It made her a bit nervous to have his hand over hers, but at the same time, it felt reassuring. She was starting to get used to his cold hands, she normally didn't like the cold, but when it came to him, it felt comforting, just like when they met.

When the waiter left with their two glasses, he let go of her hand and she instantly missed the comfort from it. To distract herself, she decided to look around the small café.

It wasn't really small, it was a good neutral size, it had lots of windows so that natural light could enter and reflect the small crystal centers on top of the tables. The walls were beige and adorned with different paintings that held various colors within them. It was utterly breathtaking, even with the little decorations it had, the café managed to catch people's eye as they passed by.

"See something that caught your eye?" teased Gray when he noticed the awe look on her face.

She blushed lightly and ducked her head. "J-just observing the design of this place."

"You like interior designing?

She nodded with a small smile as the waiter came back and placed the two glasses on the table.

"Anything else I can get you?"

"No, thank you," said Gray, his eyes focused on the young woman in front of him.

Lucy waited until the waiter left to continue.

"I minored in Interior Design before I decided to focus on Restaurant and Lodging Management," her smile grew with every word she spoke. "There's something about knowing how the right furniture and color can make a room more welcoming to the people staying in them, even if it is for a short time."

He nodded in agreement. The atmosphere of a place is what makes a business prosper or fail, it's the reason why certain people go to certain places, because it will either appease them or not.

As they finished their lunch he asked her, "What would you like to do after this?"

"Hmm," she said in thought. "How about a bit of shopping?"

She saw him cringe a bit. "Don't worry, I'm not _that_ bad."

"That's what _every_ girl says," he said.

"Like who?"

"Well, there's Ultear, Wendy-"

"-Those are just your sisters," she said cutting him off.

"And they are the best example there is," he said in triumph.

"Okay fine," she said as he asked the waiter to bring him the check. "Maybe I do go overboard sometimes – but not today, I _promise_!"

He grabbed the small check book before Lucy could even glance at it and put his card inside and gave it to the waiter before he left. "You promise?"

She smiled. "Cross my heart and hope to die," she said as she made an X over her heart with her finger.

He smiled. "All right, fine," he said in response as the waiter came back with the receipt.

He opened the black checkbook, got his card and put inside a ten dollar bill before closing it and standing up.

He offered his hand to her. "Shall we?"

She smiled. "We shall," she said as she put her hand in his.

* * *

They walked around the town for a good couple of minutes, enjoying the sunlight and the clear blue sky. The sun was shining and the birds were singing…yeah, right.

While Lucy did keep her promise about not going overboard with the shopping, she did like to stop every time something caught her eye. So far she had managed to buy something for all her friends and her father, the only person missing was Lucy herself.

She didn't let him carry her shopping bags, saying that it was her stuff and she could do it herself. But after much persuasion he ended up carrying three of the four large bags. She still wouldn't let him carry all of them.

They passed a small jewelry shop that had a sale and Lucy stopped walking all together when a light reflected off one of the pieces on display.

Gray turned around when he noticed that she was not walking next to him anymore. He walked backed and followed the direction of her eyes. He spotted necklace with a sword pendant and did a double take on the blonde next to him. She didn't seem like the type to wear something like that, personally he would, but her? He expected her to wear something more elegant and girly.

"Come on," she said as she grabbed his arm with a small smile and led him into the shop.

"Welcome!" greeted a young saleswoman from behind one of the counters. "How can I help you today?"

She let go of his arm and approached the woman. "Hi, I was wondering if I could take a closer look at that necklace on display."

"Of course, ma'am, just one moment please," she replied and left to retrieve the item that had caught Lucy's eye.

"I didn't think you would like that sort of necklace," commented Gray.

"I don't necessarily," she said. "But it's not for me." She looked at him and gave him a small smile. "It's for you."

"What?" he asked shocked by her response.

"Here you go, ma'am," said the saleswoman as she presented the silver item on the glass. "This is a one of kind necklace so I'm afraid our sale doesn't cover this item."

The smile on Lucy's face didn't even falter one bit.

"That's all right," she said picking up the item with her delicate fingers and holding it in front of Gray. She looked between the necklace and Gray. "What do you think?" she asked the saleswoman.

"It looks good on your boyfriend," she replied with a smile. "It's as if it was made for him."

"Right!" she answered with a bigger smile, not really paying attention to the choice of words from the woman behind the counter.

"Lucy," said Gray as he grabbed the hand that held the necklace. She turned to him. "I can't accept this."

"You can and you will," she replied unfazed.

He looked directly at her. "I'm not taking it."

She pouted. "Please?" she asked giving him the puppy dog face she learned from Levy.

He would be lying if he said that she didn't look cute at that moment. Every fiber in his being said to hug her and kiss her senseless, but his brain said no and to focus on the task at hand. But that was a mission on its own, that pleading look was something he was weak to. Wendy used it on him whenever she wanted something and he wasn't budging.

'_No, Gray. Come on, you can do it! You can-!_'

"All right, fine!"

"Yes!"

"_But-_" he said cutting her celebration short.

"But?" she asked upset that there was a "but", a "but" was never good.

"I get to buy you something in return."

"No," she said straight out while shaking her head. "Absolutely not."

"Come on, let me buy you something," he said as he walked around the cases before he turned to her. "You bought something for everyone except yourself."

"_Gray-_"

"-_Lucy._"

The two stared at the other, neither willing to back down until-

"Okay, fine, but I get to choose."

"Nope."

"Nope?"

"You picked something for me, so I'm going to pick something for you."

"But-"

"But nothing," he said as he looked around the cases before stopping at one. "Excuse me, could I see this bracelet here?"

"Right away, sir."

"Gray-"

"-Come on, Luce. Just look at it and then tell me what you think."

"…okay, fine."

He smiled and took the gold charm bracelet in his hand and held it front of him. She lifted her left wrist and watched as he put it around her wrist and clicked it in place.

"It certainly matches you well, ma'am," commented the saleswoman. "Your boyfriend has good taste."

Gray nodded. "It does," he said making her blush lightly at the fact that he didn't correct the saleswoman.

She inspected the charm bracelet more carefully. It was gold and had the 12 zodiac signs as charms that adorned it.

"It's so beautiful," she said in awe of it.

"We'll take it - along with the necklace," he said as Lucy inspected each charm.

The saleswoman nodded and walked towards the cashier. She rang the price for the necklace and the bracelet. She took the security chip of the necklace and looked at Lucy with expectant eyes.

"Oh, sorry," she said as she started to take off the bracelet.

"There's no need," smiled the saleswoman as she asked for her wrist and deactivated the security chip that was in the bracelet.

Lucy went back to admiring the bracelet as Gray paid for both the sword necklace and the bracelet without her knowing it.

"Thank you for your purchase," the saleswoman said handing him two separate bags that held the cases for their items.

"Thank you," he said as he turned to Lucy. "Ready to go?"

"Yeah," she replied, still distracted by the beauty of the bracelet.

It took her a good ten minutes to realize that she had been walking with the bracelet.

"Oh!" she said turning around. "I forgot to pay!"

He chuckled.

"This isn't funny Gray! This is stealing!"

"It's not when I already paid for it."

"_What!_"

"Yeah."

"A-and your necklace?"

"Already paid for."

"But _I_ was supposed to pay for it."

"Too late," he said as he smiled at her. "It's already paid for."

"B-but-!"

"Don't worry about it Lucy," he said turning around to face her. "I really didn't mind."

Thanks to the Sun's light, she was able to catch a gleam of the necklace she had picked out for him around his neck, it really did fit him perfectly. The silver chain, the small silver sword and the blue gem embedded into the hilt of the sword, it all screamed Gray to her.

She stepped forward and held the sword in her hand. She smiled a little.

"This was made for you."

He had to stop himself from putting his arms around her and pulling her close and crashing his lips into hers.

'_She's certainly testing my self-restraint,_' he thought to himself.

To his surprise, she closed the distance between the two and hugged him.

"Thank you, Gray."

He froze for a split second as his mind processed one thought. '_Lucy is hugging me._'

While this wasn't the first time they had hugged, it was certainly the first time it had happened with no heartbreak, need, or as friendly gesture. Her body was pressed directly to his and he could feel her warmth on his chest. Before she could process what she had done, he embraced her back and pulled her closer, as if that was any more possible.

"You're welcome," he said as he squeezed her into him.

She was small in comparison to him, he felt as if he could engulf her completely and not let anyone else hug her in this manner. The one thing that he would never forget from this hug wasn't the warmth she radiated, it was fact that she fit so perfectly into him.

When he felt her let go, he released his hold on her and resisted every urge to, once again, kiss her lips with his own.

"It's starting to get dark," she said looking up at the sky, her voice barely whisper.

"Yeah," he said, his eyes never leaving her. "We should start heading back to the station."

She nodded and let him lead her as he put his arm around her waist and hers on his. It felt so normal for the two, as if it was the most natural thing in the world. She didn't feel uncomfortable or nervous, she felt safe and at home having him by her side. As they walked towards the station she had one single thought cross her mind.

'_I like Gray Fullbuster…_'

* * *

When they boarded the train once more, Lucy couldn't help but notice how much colder it was inside in comparison to that morning. It was probably because there weren't that many people on this time. She never realized how long they had gone out shopping until they reached the station and saw that it read 8 o'clock on the digital screen. It had been because of Daylight's Savings Time that the sun had gone down so late, but then again she wasn't complaining.

She shivered once more in her seat. She was glad that now she had somewhere to sit with Gray, but right now she wished there were more people to provide heat.

She felt Gray shuffle in his seat for a moment and was surprised when she felt something warm cover her back and shoulders.

She looked at him questionably.

"If you're cold, just say so," he said with a small smile.

"What about you?" she asked him.

He gave her a small smirk. "The cold doesn't really bother me," he answered. He then wrapped his arm around her waist and brought her closer to him. "Besides, you seem colder than I am."

She blushed. She knew for a fact now that she was certainly warm. While the hand on her waist was cold, it still held some kind of warmth to them. She smiled a little and rested her head on his chest.

"Thank you," she said with a small smile as she closed her eyes.

This reminded her of the time he held that time she had found out about Richard. It didn't hurt to think about him now and she didn't get any nightmares anymore about what had happened. She remembered how she had clung onto Gray as if her life depended on it that night, and no matter how much time had passed, she was still embarrassed by her own actions.

With the sound of his heartbeat as her lullaby, she started to fall asleep until she heard his phone ring.

She heard him curse under his breath. "_Shit,_" he said as he took out his phone with his free hand.

"Hello?...Hey…"

Lucy decided to stay in her current position for two reasons. The first being that she was comfortable, the second….well, there was no second reason, she just didn't feel like moving.

She didn't want to eavesdrop on the conversation, but if she moved now, it would be awkward. She remembered how the train ride to Oak Town was slow, but that may have been because they were so close to each other because of the people crowding into the train. Now, it felt like it was going too fast. Was it because she wanted to stay like this longer or…?

"-Yeah, listen, Lyon. I have to go. I'm not home now so-"

She could hear someone else on the other line speaking.

"Yeah, thanks buddy. Bye."

She lifted her head off his chest.

"Sorry, did I wake you?"

She shook her head. "Not really. I kept thinking that we might miss the stop if I did fall asleep."

He smiled. She wasn't entirely wrong, they were getting near Hana Station, and he didn't have the heart to wake her up if she had fallen asleep.

She took off his jacket and gave it back to him. "Thanks again."

"It's no problem," he said as he put it on.

The two stood up as the train came to a stop and got off the train when the doors opened. They walked down the stairs and stopped on the second floor. He handed her the shopping bags from their trip and she took them from him, not fazed by the weight of what was inside. The two stood awkwardly staring at each other.

"So, I guess this is goodbye," he said after a couple of minutes.

"Yeah," she nodded. "Bye," she said staring up at him. "I'll see you later?"

He nodded. "Yeah," he said and lifted his arms slightly to invite in for a hug.

She smiled and closed the space between the two. The two separated after a short while and he looked down at her big brown eyes looking directly at his dark blue ones.

"I wish you didn't have to go," he said before he hugged her closer to him.

"I know, me too" she said as she buried her head into his chest.

When she pulled away, she couldn't help but blush at the way he was staring at her. She looked away from him, ready to go down the last set of stairs. But just as she started walking away from him, she felt his hand hold hers tightly, not letting go. She moved her sight from his hand to his eyes and as she did so, he pulled her back again, hugging her tighter than before.

"Gray," she whispered as she let herself be pulled in and hugged him back just as tight.

She could feel him pull away and held her face in his hands. He kissed her cheek, the top of her head, near her ear, and close to her lips. He looked at her with a certain look, a look she knew too well. He leaned closer to her, enough that she could feel his breath. She really wanted to kiss him then and there, but at that same time, she didn't. She looked down, as to avoid his intensive stare.

"Lucy," he said as he tried to get her to look at him directly.

She didn't though, she tried not to but ended up looking at his lips. Lips so close that she just wanted to allow herself to do what she wanted to. She tried hard to look away from them and to his eyes, but that was a big mistake. Once she saw them, she couldn't look away as he got closer and closer. Just when he was only a breath away, she said lowly,

"Please don't…"

He stopped, but didn't move. "Please don't what?"

He tried to close the distance but she pulled back.

"Just _please_," she said as she shook her head.

"Lucy…"

She pulled completely away from him, until only his hand held hers, but even then, he let her hand slip as she hurriedly turned away from him and descended the last set of stairs without looking back. She quickly pressed her pass on the automatic gate and passed through the gate, rushing to get lost somewhere between the crowds of people going in and out of the station.

* * *

**And that is it for chapter 12, a good 6,000+ words for this one to make up for the long wait. But not to worry, this is isn't the end of Found :)**

**~Karie**


	13. Chapter 13: Confusion

_**Confusion [Kuh-n-fyoo-zhuh-n]**_ – (2) the state of being confused. (4) lack of clearness or distinctness. (5) perplexity; bewilderment.

* * *

_**Chapter 13**_

When she stepped out of the station, she could see all the busy movement around her, but she couldn't hear anything. She could still feel the heat from Gray's body on hers, she shivered just as she thought over what had happened. She quickly called out a cab and stepped in without hesitation and gave him the address to her house. The driver gave her an unsure look, but she ignored it and looked away, hoping the driver would hurry up and get a move on.

When they reached the large gates at the entrance she simply gave the driver her ID and waited until the gates opened before receiving it back. Before he could even reach the front of the mansion, she gave him a good handful of bills and exited out of the car with her bags as soon as it stopped. She zoomed past Capricorn as he opened the door and ran straight for a room that had recently belonged only to her brother, but was now shared by Luna.

She opened the door without knocking and surprised the couple inside who were surrounded by a mountain of papers. Her shopping bags were dropped by the door without a care as she rushed inside. Luna stood up just in time to catch the blonde as she basically threw herself onto the older woman. Laxus looked at Luna confused as to what had just happened. The brunette gave him the same confused look until she felt Lucy hug her tightly.

With a nod of her head, she gestured him to leave the room. He shook his head in refusal until he knew what was wrong with little sister. She gave him a stern look and with that he sighed. He closed the door as he left the room, picking up the bags that had been discarded and taken them to his little sister's room.

Luna gently pushed Lucy away and led her towards the bed.

"Okay, Lu-chan," started Luna. "What happened?"

She explained everything that had happened that day, from when she left the house to getting back.

"-A-and then he tried to – tried to-"

"-kiss you?"

"Shh! Don't say that!"

"Did he though?"

"What?"

"Kiss you!"

"No!"

"Why not!"

"Because-!"

"Because?"

"I-I couldn't do it!"

"What! Why!"

"…"  
"Lucy?"

"…"

"Lucy, why couldn't you kiss Gray?"

Lucy sighed. "I-I couldn't k-kiss him because it wasn't a d-date."

Luna crossed her arms. "Oh, really?"

"Really."

"Then why are you avoiding eye contact with me?"

"…"

Luna sighed through her nose and put her arms down. Lucy was hiding something, and she knew it. For whatever reason, the Heartfilias were bad at lying, they couldn't look a person in the eye and they would stammer. She learned this the moment she entered high school with Laxus.

She gently grabbed one of Lucy's hands. "Come on, Luce. Don't you trust me?"

Lucy flinched. "I-I do! I just…"

"Come on," said Luna gently. "What is it?"

Lucy stayed quiet. She wanted to tell Luna, but it was still embarrassing to admit, or rather, it was a lot harder to admit out loud. "…I'm scared, Luna."

This took Luna back by surprise. "Scared of what, Lu-chan?"

She took a deep breath. "I…I like Gray."

Luna was confused. "And you're scared because…"

"Because I don't want a repetition of what happened with Richard…"

"But Gray isn't like Richard-!"

"I know!" said Lucy cutting the brunette off. "I know," she said in a lower voice. She paused before continuing. "I know that, but," she put a hand over her heart. "I don't think I'm still over what Richard did to me. I trusted him, I told him everything, my fears, my weaknesses…my mom…I mean he was even my _first_ for crying out loud!"

She could feel her eyes stinging. "I thought we would be together forever…" she whispered.

Luna stayed quiet.

"I know Gray is nothing like Richard, but I'm scared. I don't want to go through that pain all over again. I don't think my heart is prepared for something like that again."

The tears spilled. She couldn't stop them, her shoulders shook as Luna reached out and hugged the young woman. "Oh, Lu-chan," she said as she rubbed the younger woman's arm before stroking her hair as she calmed down.

It was a couple of hours later that Laxus came in to find his fiancée and his little sister huddled together in their sleep. He smiled a little before his lips formed into a scowl. He noticed the tear stains on his sister's cheeks. Even though she looked peaceful now, by the way her hand didn't let go of Luna's blouse, he could that something had happened. Something bad.

But for now, he would let them sleep instead of asking what happened. He made his way to his closet, where he knew he would find extra sheets and pillows. He put them on the couch before going around his bed and picking up the mess of papers he and Luna had made moments before Lucy had entered the room. After making sure they were all there, he put them in his desk and went over to the couch to grab one of the sheets. He put them over the two women and made sure to not wake them up.

He lightly touched Lucy's tear stained cheek, wishing he could erase it with his touch. He saw new tears start to fall as she whispered something in her sleep.

"Mama…"

He lightly stroked her hair as she clung tighter to Luna's blouse.

"Shh," he said. "It's okay…"

He saw Luna bring her closer, as if knowing in her sleep that the young blonde sought comfort. He kissed his fiancée on the forehead, glad that she was there to be a mother figure to his sister. Even though the two girls were only two years apart, it was at times like this that he would forget that Luna was only twenty-four. It was also at times like this that he wished his mom was here so that she could comfort Lucy as well. Their mother knew how to make them stop bickering and crying, she was always able to put a smile on their faces.

As he made his way to the couch once more, he thought about how he hadn't visited his mother's grave for a while. Perhaps tomorrow he would visit her, but that would depend on the answer he would get from Luna.

* * *

He messed up, he knew it. But he couldn't help it. She looked so cute and he couldn't stop himself. She was everything he wanted, everything he _needed_ in his life. He loved his sisters, but the way he felt for Lucy was different. He could picture it, he could picture _them_ living together in an apartment, he could picture waking up to her beautiful face every morning, he could–!

He shook his head as he exited the train and onto Yanagi Station. It didn't matter anymore; he could see the conflict in her eyes as he had gotten closer to her. He contemplated on explaining his circumstances to his older sister, she was a woman and she had past relationships before. Correction, she was _in_ a relationship now. As much as he hated to admit it, the guy her sister was seeing was a decent man, even though he had yet to meet him face to face.

Sure, his sister may be older than him, but that didn't stop him from judging her boyfriends. He remembered how much his dad would twitch whenever the word "boyfriend" was mentioned. After he passed away, Gray started the act the same way whenever Ultear or Wendy mentioned a guy's name. He wasn't jealous or anything, he was just…_extremely_ overprotective over his family. He didn't want anything else happen to them, no more heartbreak, no more crying at night, no more_ pain_!

He sighed as he walked home, he didn't want anyone to become glum anymore, but here he was.

He pushed her, so she pushed him away. There was no understanding Lucy. She wasn't like the other girls he had seen in the past. She wasn't superficial, stuck up, or mean. No, she was kind, smart, selfless, funny, and to top it off too, she was beautiful.

Whether he meant it physically or not, it didn't matter. He knew she had a nice body from the moment they met, and while he had been attracted to her that way, he didn't do anything because he knew better than to take advantage of someone in that state, it would go against his morals.

He sighed as he opened the door to his house and entered. He was still confused about what had happened between him and Lucy. While they were shopping, he had a feeling that Lucy _liked_ him, as in more than a friend. She was comfortable around him when they were window shopping, and she even _hugged_ him, as in she initiated the hug! Of the few hugs they had shared together, he had always initiated them, except today, that was all her.

He kept replaying the scenario over and over in his head. He almost kissed her, _almost_! And he could see it in her eyes, that she wanted to kiss him too…so why didn't she?

He was so into his thoughts that he didn't even bother taking off his shoes. He simply walked forward and plopped back on the couch.

'_Why do I always ruin everything?_' he thought to himself as he covered his eyes with his arms.

"What's wrong? Date didn't go as planned?" he heard his older sister ask.

"Ultear," he said as he took his arm off and stared at the ceiling. "How do you know when it's okay to kiss a girl?"

"K-kiss?" she asked shocked before she ran from the kitchen and to the armchair in the living room.

"Yeah," he said, his eyes not leaving that one spot on the ceiling,

"Are you telling me you wanted to kiss Lucy-chan?"

"…"

"Gray?" she asked, waiting for him to continue.

"I…I almost kissed Lucy," he said finally turning to face her.

"Almost? What happened?"

"She left before I could ask."

"She left?"

"Okay, I let her leave, but what was I supposed to do?"

Ultear stayed quiet. "Why did you want to kiss Lucy?"

"I-I don't know!"

"What do you mean you don't know! You _have_ to know, you almost _kissed_ her!"

"I know! But it's hard to explain."

"Then _try._"

He looked back at the ceiling.

"…she's different."

She raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"…she's not like the other I used to see."

"You mean date."

"No, I mean see. We would see one another, but we would never actually go on a _date._"

She waited for her brother to continue.

"I…I like Lucy."

Ultear smiled a little. "Yeah, we all know that, Einstein. Tell me something I don't know."

"I like Lucy," he repeated. "But I don't know what to do with myself."

"That's simple," she said.

He looked at her.

"Talk to her."

"I don't know…"

"Gray, you're _twenty-seven_ not _seventeen_, you're a mature adult now. I'm pretty sure that when it comes to talking to the girl you like, you will be straightforward."

"That's just it," he said sitting up. "When I'm with her I don't feel like I'm twenty-seven, I feel as if I'm back in high school."

Ultear stayed quiet. It was at times like this that she remembered that her brother was younger than she was. She always forgot that he grew up before her, which was the reason he felt everything in the house was his responsibility. She then asked a question that had never been brought up before.

"Gray, have you told her about…you-know-what?"

He looked at her, his dark blue eyes hardened for an instant before they looked down to the floor.

"No," he said, his voice barely a whisper. "I…I don't want to push her away with my past."

She nodded. "You know you'll have to tell her eventually, right?"

He looked up at her with fear in his eyes. She got up from the armchair and sat next to him on the couch. She took his hand in hers.

"I'm sure she'll understand. She believes in you, Gray."

"How do you know that?" he asked her.

"Because she would be a fool if she didn't," replied Ultear. "Besides, from what I've heard, she's pretty smart. I'm sure she'll understand."

He smiled a little. "Thank you, Ultear."

She smiled at him. "No worries. That's what big sisters are here for." She hugged him before bidding him goodnight and going up the stairs.

He laid back down on the couch and stared at the ceiling, lost in thought.

'_I don't want to push her away_,' he thought before closing his eyes. '_I lo-like her._'

That's right, he didn't love her, he couldn't. He had promised himself that he would never love another woman again ever since what happened years ago.

* * *

**Yes, another chapter completed, thanks to finals. And because of finals, this chapter is short. Sorry guys, but this is what happens when I make the previous chapter extremely long xD**

**~Karie**


	14. Chapter 14: Remembrance

_**Remembrance [Ri-mem-bruh-ns]**_ – (1) a retained mental impression; memory. (2) the act or fact of remembering. (4) the length of time over which recollection or memory extends.

* * *

_**Chapter 14**_

"_Gray!" _

_A knock on his door._

"_Gray, time to get up!" _

_Another knock before it left to wake up to his sister._

_He pulled the covers over his head. '_Just five more minutes_,' he thought as he started falling asleep once more._

"_Get __**up**__!" _

_The covers were pulled away from him._

"_All right, all right," he said sitting up. "I'm up! Now can you just give me back the covers?"_

"_Not until I see you downstairs."_

_She closed the door with a bang as he flopped back into his bed._

"_**Ten minutes**__!"_

"_All right!"_

_This was their usual routine. _

_He would ignore his alarm and go back to sleep, then she would come around the first time and remind him he had 45 minutes to get ready. He would ignore her and she would come back a second time to warn him he had 30 minutes. Again, he would ignore her, and by the third time, she would come in and pull the covers away from him and give him a ten minute warning for him to get ready and come down for breakfast._

_Same as always, the same routine for the past seven years._

"_About time you got here," she said with a small frown. _

"_Sorry, Ur-ow!" he exclaimed after he got hit in the back of the head by a wooden spoon._

"_I've __**told**__ you, call me 'mom'."_

"_All right, all right," he said rubbing the back of his head as Ur put her hands on her hips. "__**Mom**__."_

_She smiled. "All right, now eat your breakfast before you're late for school."_

"_Shouldn't you be doing the same thing?" his father asked her as he sipped his coffee._

"_Yes, and __**you**__," she said pointing the spoon at him. "Don't forget to drop Wendy off at school."_

"_Yes, ma'am," replied Silver as he stood up and put his plate in the sink. "I'll do the dishes, so you two go ahead."_

"_Thanks, dad," said Gray as he put his dish on the sink. "I'm off."_

"_Wait, you didn't brush your teeth!" said Ur as she watched him rush out the door. _

_His school uniform was, like always, a mess._

"_I'll do it when I get to school!" he said as he closed the door._

_Yeah, that was their everyday routine, nothing ever changed._

* * *

"_Have fun on your trip!" said Ultear as they waved off their parents at the airport._

"_Take care of Wendy you two!" said Ur as she and Silver rose up on the escalator._

"_We will," said Gray with a small smile._

"_Bye, mom, bye dad!" said Wendy waving both her arms._

_Their parents smiled back before they disappeared at the top. That was the last they saw of their parents' smile._

_The next time they heard about them was two weeks later._

* * *

_That day, it had been him and Wendy at home with a group of her friends (including Romeo). It had been a hot, August day, a couple of weeks before school would start. They were outside playing with water trying to beat the outside heat, unlike Gray, who decided to beat the heat by staying inside and drinking a cold glass of iced tea._

_Ultear was at her part-time job in a meeting to see if she could get a promotion to help pay off her studies. While it was true that their parents helped pay her tuition, they were still recovering from the time they had to close the motel back out in the countryside._

_He decided to turn on the television to distract himself from the heat, he didn't know what he wanted to watch, he just needed something to entertain himself. When the television turned on he wasn't really paying attention to what was happening since the phone started ringing. He sighed and stood up, his drink still in his hand._

"_Hello?" he answered._

"_**We are so sorry, Gray-kun**__," said the voice of a familiar family friend._

"_What are you talking about, Igneel-san?" said Gray with a chuckle._

"_**Y-you haven't seen the news, Gray-kun**__?"_

"_News? I just turned the TV on, what channel should I-" he froze when he turned around. On the television screen, the sight of a plane crash flashed in front of his eyes. The glass in his hands, forgotten, slipped through his fingers and shattered onto the floor. _

"_**Gray-kun**__?" _

_He wasn't listening; all he could think about were the images that flashed before him. _

"_**Gray-kun**__!"_

"_Huh? Y-yeah, I-I'll call you later." _

_He hung up the phone and step forward, by some miracle avoiding the broken glass. He sat down on the couch and stared at the television screen with wide eyes._

"_**-As you can see, these are the latest images we have received from sources around the area. The plane crash of Delta's own flight A48112 has become the most tragic incident this year. The flight left this morning, only to get a distress call halfway through the flight. Airline officials were able to locate the aircraft five minutes within the call, but were unable to help the pilot due to static and other communication problems.**_

"_**Officials have not given a proper statement yet as to the number of survivors and the deceased number of people has yet to be identified. We strongly advise family and friends to send information about their loved ones to help identify-**__"_

_He stopped listening and turned to look out their backyard. His little sister and her friends were laughing and messing around with some water balloons, oblivious to the events he had just heard about. He stood up shakily, unsure if he should tell her the news himself. He didn't know what to do next. He only knew one thing, he needed to know if his father and Ur were alive. He walked slowly to the phone and with shaky hands dialed one of their phone numbers._

_The phone kept ringing and ringing, but there was no answer. He tried again with the other number. The same response. He kept trying, again and again, desperate to hear their voices. To hear that they were all right, but nothing…just the sound of their recorded voices from their voicemails._

_He let out a shaky breath before dialing one more number. He didn't know if she knew or not, but right now he didn't know what to do with himself._

"_Come on, pick up, __**please**__."_

_He was just about to hang up when she picked up. "__**Gray, I'm kind of busy right now-**__"_

"_-Ultear, I need you to turn on the TV-"_

"_**-Gray, I-**__"_

"_**-Please**__, it's important."_

_The other line stayed quiet for a moment. _

"_**All right**__." _

_From the other line, he could hear her asking someone to turn on the television for a brief moment. _

"_**Oh my God…**__"_

_She stayed quiet. For a minute, he thought that she had hung up but then he heard her gasp._

"_U-Ultear?"_

"_**Y-yeah.**__"_

_He took a small shaky breath. "I-I don't know what to do," he said. "W-what am I going to tell Wendy? I mean I-"_

"_**Gray, listen to me**__," she said cutting him off and stopping him in midsentence. "__**I need you to take a deep breath and wait for me to get home.**__"_

"_Ultear-"_

"_-__**Don't worry, I'll be there as soon as I can. In the meantime, don't tell Wendy anything. Not yet, okay?**__"_

_He nodded. "Okay."_

"_**Okay, I'll see you when I get home,**__" she said. He was about to hang up the phone when he was stopped by his older sister's voice. "__**And Gray**__?"_

"_Y-yeah?"_

"_**They'll be okay**__."_

"_Y-yeah," he said and put the phone down. _

_He let out another shaky breath. He could do it; he could wait until Ultear got here, yeah. He turned around, about to walk towards the couch to turn off the television, and he stepped on something._

"_Ow," he murmured._

_He looked down and saw the broken glass he had been holding moments before he had seen the news on the screen. He kneeled down and started picking up the pieces as his mind reverted back to the time he had lost his mother. The first woman he ever loved in every sense of the word._

_He remembered that time ten years ago when his father had sat down with him and explained to him why his mother was not going to come back from the hospital this time. He remembered not understanding very well, and when he did, he did not speak much for a while. Luckily for him, he had managed to meet Natsu Dragneel during that time to help cope with his loss by focusing on beating the younger boy at every competition the salmon-haired boy set for them._

_Soon, Wendy's friends started leaving as their parents came to pick them up, each giving their condolences. He made sure that Wendy was out of earshot when they did and quietly told them not to mention anything to Wendy until further notice._

_When Ultear arrived, he didn't know what to do, how to act anymore. She noticed that and pulled him aside, assuring him that they would be fine. They simply needed to let Wendy know what had happened and the possible outcomes to what it could mean for them. He didn't know how they would be able to tell her. Seeing the look in his face, Ultear once again told him to relax, and that she would handle most of the talking. _

"_Why?" he asked._

"_Because it's my job as your older sister," she simply replied. _

_She walked back out to the living room and called for Wendy._

_He would never forget the look on his little sister's face when she was told that their parents might not come home from their flight this time. It was that same look that would bring him out of his darkness months later. He had never felt useless until that moment. He could only watch in agony as his older sister comforted her with soothing words. _

_He couldn't do anything._

_Wendy looked towards him from the other side of the couch. She reached out to him, as if she knew that even though he couldn't show it, he too, was suffering on the inside. He moved closer as she wrapped her small arms around him. That's when he felt it, his little sister was crying, and there was nothing he could except wrap his own arms around her. He had vowed that day that he would everything in his power to protect his little sister from such pain._

* * *

_That had been what he had vowed, but he never knew that by trying to protect them, he would also put them in danger. _

_Seeing the live feed projected onto one of the screens, he tried typing faster and faster, but his hands wouldn't move any faster than they already were. His eyes flashed once more to the screen on his left. He could see his sisters enjoying their lunch with his girlfriend, Juvia, unaware of the cameras that had been placed on their home to ensure that he would do his job._

"_You don't have to do this," said a voice behind him strongly._

_He turned around. _

_She was around his age, a bit younger if anything. Her hair was tied up in a ponytail, and although she couldn't see because of the blindfold, he knew she could pinpoint his location by the sound of his fingers hitting the keyboard. Her hands were tied behind her and she wore a prestigious uniform made up of a black school skirt, a white blouse, and a gold bow topping it off around her collar._

"_You don't understand," he murmured as he went back to work._

"_You're right, I don't," she said. "But what reason could you have to do all this? What have I ever done to you? I don't even know-"_

_The screen flashed with the words '__**Access Denied**__' on the screen. Frustrated he slammed his hands against the table._

"_Can you __**please**__: __**Shut**__. __**Up**__!"_

"_I'm just saying-"_

"_-look, you think I don't know what I'm doing is dangerous? I know it is, but if I don't, then who's going to protect my family?"_

_She stayed quiet. He hoped that would stop her from asking so many questions and let him work._

"_You."_

"_What?" he asked, not really paying attention to her at this point._

"_You're the one that should be protecting your family. Not these scums," she said. _

_Even though he couldn't see her face, he could tell it had probably looked like the one Ur had given him when she and Silver had left for their honeymoon._

"_**I know you're going to be staying with the Vastias**__," she had said. "__**But make sure to protect your sister, okay? She might be older, but she's a still girl, okay?**__" He had nodded like a good little soldier._

_The sound of the tapping keyboard stopped. Could he really protect his sisters without the help of these people? He could, but that would mean-_

"_Why did you stop working?" he heard Lyon ask as he sat down next to him. "You need help?"_

_He shook his head. _

"_Hey, Lion," he said using their codenames. "Do you think that we could stop this?"_

"_I don't think you should talk like that, Earl," stiffened Lyon._

"_I'm just saying-"_

"_-hey, what's with all the chatter? Get back to work!"_

_Gray stiffened. _

"_Yes, sir," he said as he went back to work. _

_He was starting to get closer to cracking the code, but what the girl had said to him, kept him from wanting to figure it out. He could feel the muzzle of the gun on the back of his head as he typed away. Only a few codes away from gaining their access._

"_Hey, Joey! I need some help over here, there seems to be a problem outside!"_

_He could hear someone screaming from the other door._

"_You, keep working or else," he said before tapping him once more with the gun. _

_When the door closed, he stopped typing. _

"_I can't do this anymore," he said leaning back in his chair. _

_He looked at Lyon, he had the same look on his face as Gray. He sighed and stood up._

"_What are you doing?" asked the girl, stiffening as they got closer. "You better not-"_

"_-Relax," said Gray kneeling down behind her. "We're going to let you go."_

"_Y-you are?" she asked unsure. _

_From the door, they could hear rapid footsteps. He thought that for a brief second that she smiled from the noise. He started untying her wrist, a task that had become hard due to the gloves he wore to prevent his fingerprints from being found on the computer. _

_When he finished she said, "You better go."_

"_What do you mean?"_

_She rubbed her wrist. "If they find you they might kill you."_

"_She's right," said Lyon grabbing all their stuff. "Joey will not let us go easy."_

"_But what about her? If they find her-"_

"_-don't worry about me," she said undoing the blindfold. They heard a crash. "I'll be fine. My cavalry is already here anyway."_

"_But what about the computer-"_

"_-don't worry, I'll handle it. Just __**go**__!" she said standing up and erasing everything on the computer._

"_But-"_

_She had already started typing away and deleting everything and anything that would lead them back to him and Lyon. _

"_Look, if he finds you, he __**will**__ kill you," she said seriously, her eyes not leaving the screen. "There's a window in the closet that leads to the fire escape. Take it and go!"_

_Gray flinched. He grabbed his stuff from Lyon and ran to the closet, turning back to look at the girl working fast on the computer to erase their traces._

"_Come on, let's go!" said Lyon as he stepped onto the fire escape._

_He nodded and followed his best friend. Years from now he would still remember the blonde girl who let them go free while she cleared the system from any trace of Gray._

_But what he didn't see was the ocean green eyes of the girl waiting for her boyfriend to barge through the door and get her. Until this day, she still didn't know what was so special about the live feed of an empty house. Little did she know she would meet her kidnapper years later while trying to save her fiancé's little sister from a similar kidnapping._

* * *

**I managed to finish this chapter! Yay! It's a small sneak peek into Gray's past, and although Lucy wasn't really mentioned in this chapter, I will try to bring her back again next one. Also, thank you so much for the support you guys!**

**~Karie**


	15. Chapter 15: Longing

_**Longing [lawng-ing]**_ – (1) a strong, persistent desire or craving, especially for something unattainable or distant.

* * *

_**Chapter 15**_

He opened his eyes to find himself staring at the ceiling in their living room. He sat up from the couch, glad that Ultear had managed to convince him into buying this comfortable couch. He wiped his eyes and was surprised to find dry tears on his cheeks. He never thought that he would dream about his past ever again, both his dark and normal days.

He got up and started walking upstairs, his mind still filled with the memories of his past. He could still remember it, all of it. He remembered how relieved he was to find his family all right. He remembered taking Ultear aside and explaining what was happening, only for her to decide that they should move to the other side of the city, to avoid coming across Joey and his people.

He never really put that much thought about it back in the past, but he had come to the realization that whenever he truly cared for someone they tended to leave him. First it was his mother, then Ur and his father, he almost lost his sisters and later on he lost Juvia.

He knew he couldn't blame himself for any of them, except Juvia, because if he had actually stayed behind that time and listened, she would still be with him. Which is why he was scared to care for Lucy more than he already did. What if his past caught up to him? Sure, it may have been ten years since then, but karma was a funny thing that way and the last thing he wanted to do was involve her into another bad experience.

He sighed as he flopped on his bed. His day wasn't ending as well as he had hoped.

He looked at his digital clock and groaned. It was 3 a.m. and he was already dreading waking up. He turned to the side and prayed that sleep would come to him, something he doubted would actually happen. As he closed his eyes, he could only think about one thing – or rather one person.

Her blonde hair and warm, brown eyes, it was all his mind would think about. At times like this. he would recall the first day they met; how she fell asleep on him and how comfortable and natural it felt. At this moment, as he recalled his past, he wished he had that warmth back then to comfort him into sleep.

* * *

When Lucy woke up, she wasn't surprised to be on her brother's bed. It had become a habit of hers to sleep with her brother when she was scared or simply wanted to bother him by staying in his room and making him sleep on his couch.

She looked around and noticed the mess of papers she walked into was gone and so were the people that had caused it. She walked to the bathroom that was connected to the room and washed her face. As she looked at her refection, she was glad she didn't find her eyes red or puffy. She dried her face carefully and left the room to go change into more comfortable clothes.

When she left her room, she made sure that her face wasn't blotchy. If her father saw, she didn't know what she'd say to avoid making him worry. She seriously believed that the reason her father had so many gray hairs wasn't because of her brother. No, he had Luna to watch out for him. It was Lucy.

She remembered the first couple of days after they had managed to patch things up after the rift between them, her father would freak out from a small cut in her finger to a small bruise she had gotten from getting caught in the middle of one of Natsu's and Gajeel's brawls.

She walked down the stairs in no rush to reach the kitchen. Sure, they had a dining area, but that was used mostly during big celebrations or events, such as birthdays and Christmas. When she walked in she was surprised to find Luna cooking and not Aries.

"Morning, sleepy head," greeted the brunette as she served a small batch of chocolate chip pancakes in a plate, her favorite.

"Morning," she said sitting at the counter. "How come you're making breakfast?"

"Luna-sama asked to use the kitchen this morning to make you breakfast, Lucy-sama," answered Aries from the side as she cleaned the counters.

Lucy nodded in understanding before a small smile graced her lips. It had taken a while, but Aries had stopped apologizing for everything, making it easier to keep a conversation with the pink-headed chef and caretaker.

"Here you go," said Luna as she placed the plate in front of Lucy. "Chocolate chip pancakes with a dash of maple syrup and strawberries on the side; your favorite."

"And your specialty," replied the blonde with a smile. As she started eating she realized her brother was nowhere to be found. "Where's Laxus?"

Luna set down a cup of chamomile tea next to Lucy's plate. "I'm not sure, he was gone when I woke up this morning."

"No note?" she asked taking a sip of her tea.

Luna shook her head. "It's not like him…"

The two said nothing afterwards, there was no mention about the events that transpired last night, only the sound of Lucy's utensils cutting her pancakes and the occasional sip of tea every once in a while.

Aries had excused herself to attend the adopted twins, Gemi and Mini. Lucy's father had decided to adopt the twins after learning from Luna that they still hadn't found a home. They were handful, but they kept the house active on slow days.

As Lucy finished her tea, Luna asked, "So what now?"

She shrugged. "I don't know…"

Luna nodded. A silence followed before she asked, "Do you want to go shopping with me?"

"You mean like now?"

"Yeah. I mean we'd have to call Mira and Erza, oh and let's not forget Levy."

"What is this? An impromptu girl's day out?"

"Sort of." Looking from side to side, she leaned in close. "Considering the fact that Laxus' gone, I was thinking that maybe we can go wedding dress shopping?"

Lucy giggled a bit, a small smile gracing her face. "Don't want the groom to see the wedding dress?"

"Exactly," said Luna with a wink as she cleaned up Lucy's dirty dishes.

Lucy looked down at her empty tea cup. '_A day out with the girls…why not?_'

"All right," she said standing up from her seat. "I'll go call the girls."

* * *

Laxus looked at the headstone in front of him. It had been a while since his last visit to his grandfather.

He chuckled a little.

The old man was probably rolling around in his grave if he knew that he had slightly forgotten about him the past two months. Who could blame him? With getting engaged and then Lucy's kidnapping, he barely thought of anything…of course there was no excuse for breaking tradition.

He sighed a little, a small smirk etched on his normally scowling face. He finished his prayers to his grandfather before standing up and walking over to the next person on his list…Layla Heartfilia.

Layla Heartfilia had been the first and only mother he had ever had. Jude had refused to remarry going against the wishes of his publicists. Still, they learned to accept it and moved on from the topic when the last time they brought it up; he broke his pen in two.

Laxus grinned a little as he kneeled in from of the polished tombstone. He started his prayer and stayed that way for a while until he was done. He then put his hands at his knees and said,

"Hey mom, it's been a while." He could hear his mother's giggle in his head. "I'm sorry I haven't visited you in a while. I've been busy." He paused for a moment. "But I shouldn't be too busy to visit you, right?"

He smiled sadly as memories of his mother came back to him. He let out a shaky breath.

"I promise next time I'll bring Luna with me, I kind of just left her asleep in my bed this morning. She's still a pain in the a-_butt_ at times, but that's what's so great about her," he continued as he corrected himself from saying crude words in front of his mother. "Lucy's doing fine now…sort of. She's having some boy trouble again – but not like last time!" he reassured her. "He's a…he's a decent man. I really like him, he seems to have his life figured out and he has a decent job, and he's capable of taking care of her, but…I don't think she is willing to let him in now. Not after what happened."

He stopped talking. For a brief moment he thought he felt his mother touch on his shoulder, as if reassuring him that things would work out. He took another shaky breath.

"Dad's fine, by the way," he said trying to keep his voice steady. "He's still a workaholic, but he makes time to have dinner with us. And each Sunday we still have breakfast together, Luna comes in every once in a while and cooks us lunch when Aries is too busy with Gemi and Mini. She's...she's really become a huge part of our family. And I couldn't ask for someone other than her to be with me.

"I really miss you mom…and I could really use your help now," he took another deep breath to control the shaking in his voice. "I don't know what to do to help Lucy out. I know Luna is there to help her, but I just feel so useless right now…I don't know what to do. All I know is how to order people around during gym class and during training sessions, but when it comes to this I'm completely useless…"

He stopped talking as he wiped the unshed tears from his eyes with the back of his hand and chuckled a bit.

"Look at me, I'm supposed to be telling you happy things about our lives, not about my self-pity," he sat up straight and look forward with a small smile. "Please keep looking out for us mom."

He put his hands together in prayer and said his goodbye to his mother. When he finished, he made sure her tombstone had fresh water for her flowers. Lilies had always been her favorite, and they were in full bloom. As he left, he couldn't stop thinking about the fact that it was fifteen years had passed since Layla Heartfilia had passed away. No matter how much time passed, there was still a feeling of longing for her to be there with them.

* * *

Lucy's eyes gleamed with joy as Luna stepped out in the dress the blonde had picked for her. They had been at the store now for around an hour or so watching her try on dresses that the consultant had suggested and their own suggestions. So far, there was only one dress that seemed to fit Luna and was Mira's choice…that is until now.

She came out wearing a strapless, white lace with a sweetheart neckline. Luna looked as if she couldn't contain the smile that was graced on her lips.

"So," she said as she turned around slowly. "What do you think?"

"It's beautiful," said Levy with awe. "It's-it's-!"

"Oh, Levy-chan, don't start crying," said Lucy as she handed her best friend a tissue.

"B-but, Lu-chan," she said as she wiped off her tears. "Luna just looks so beautiful!"

And so the domino effect began.

First it was Levy, followed by Mira who tried to calm her down only to fail, next came Lucy, and lastly was Luna, who was trying her hardest to not get all emotional.

"Oh, come on!" she exclaimed as she wiped her tears with a tissue. "I haven't even walked down the aisle yet!" She turned to Erza. "Erza, help me out."

Erza, who had been very quiet, spoke out slowly in a shaky voice. "But Luna you look so beautiful!"

"You're supposed to help me here!" she said as she let out a small laugh.

"So, um, is this your dress Vermilion-san?" asked the consultant unsure if this was a good sign or not.

She nodded. "Yes, this is my dress," she replied as she turned once more to the mirror. "This is definitely the one."

The girls cheered and stood up to hug their friend tightly. As Luna left to go change back into her normal clothes, the girls did their best to calm, although it didn't go as fast the consultant's assistant would have liked, but they were getting there.

Lucy watched as another bride walked out to greet her family. From where she was sitting, she could see the similarities between the mom and the bride. The same face and hair style, but different eye and hair color. She smiled a little remembering her mom. She had been told by many family friends and business partners that she the carbon copy of her mother, and she was proud of that.

Looking at all the different wedding dresses made her remember that at one point in her life she wanted to get married. She wanted it to be a small wedding, just their closest friends and family. She didn't want her wedding to be some sort of propaganda about her or the Heartfilia Hotels, and she had a feeling her father would agree…of course this did not mean she didn't want her wedding to exclude a couple photographers here and there.

She could see it, an outdoor wedding with an indoor reception, with pink as the theme color.

She could picture it; she would walk down the aisle in her mother's wedding dress. The dress would obviously be modified so it would fit her and modern time, although there was barely anything to fix considering her mother had married in a simple white, off-shoulder wedding dress. She would walk down the aisle with her father and at the end she would find her soon-to-be husband. He'd break out a smile that would make her look down for a second before she continued to look back up at him. Her brown eyes would find his dark blue ones, and his regularly messy dark hair would be combed back.

When she reached the end of the aisle, her father would hand her to the groom and he would say her name, barely above a whisper, only for her to hear.

"_You look amazing, Lucy,_" he would say.

And she would blush lightly and say, "_You don't look too bad yourself, Gray-_"

She stopped her daydream.

"Gray?" she asked herself aloud. Luckily for her, her friends were still busy gushing about Luna's dress.

She touched her cheeks and felt the heat rising in them. She then moved her hands from her cheeks to her chest. Yep, her heart was beating fast and it would be for a while. A small smile crept into her face.

Thinking about Gray always made her feel this way, but it felt different now, it was stronger. Normally when she felt like this, she would text him - and she was in the process of doing so, too, but then she remembered what happened yesterday and stopped her tapping fingers.

She hadn't talked to him at all this morning, but what was she supposed to say? Hey, I'm sorry I ran out on you last night, but I was simply comparing you to my dick-of-an-ex-boyfriend?

She shook her head. '_Yeah, not a good idea to start the conversation._'

She chewed on her bottom lip, a habit she picked up when watching Luna think. She erased the message she had started writing to him and put her phone down.

Lucy stared at the ceiling of the wedding dress shop before making up her mind. She started this awkwardness and she was going to end it.

She took a deep breath and unlocked her phone. She typed out her message to Gray and pressed send.

There was no going back now.

* * *

**I have news for you guys! **_**Found**_** will be ending in just a couple more chapters! Sad, I know, **_**but**_** there will be a sequel to it ^-^. I hope you guys will look forward to it :)**

**~Karie**


	16. Chapter 16: Acceptance

_**Acceptance [ak-sep-tuh-ns]**_ – (1) the act of taking or receiving something offered. (3) the act of assenting or believing. (4) the fact or state of being accepted or acceptable.

* * *

_**Chapter 16**_

Gray looked at his phone is disbelief. He hadn't been expecting a text message from Lucy this early, and by early he didn't mean the time of day, more like the amount of days that had passed since he had tried to kiss her.

He had gone to work even though he had the day off since it was Monday. He felt that he could be more productive working on Luna's and Laxus's cake than lounging around at home doing nothing.

However, when he took his lunch break, he wasn't expecting to find any new messages on his phone. Maybe an email from Luna with details about the cake, but that was it.

He read the message again,

Lucy:

_-Hey, Gray. I had a really good time yesterday. Want to meet up tomorrow for coffee?_

He didn't know what to reply.

His heart screamed "Yes!" but his brain was blasting alarms saying "No!" What to do, what to do. He didn't want to leave her hanging, but he also wanted to think about his reply. He didn't want to rush into it and end up hurting them both. Then again, maybe he was overthinking it, they were only having coffee, not getting married…right?

He shook his head. He put his phone back in his locker and went back to the kitchen. He would see how much work he could get done and if he could get tomorrow morning off. Until then, he was not going to reply to her. Not until he was sure of what he wanted.

* * *

Lucy stared at her phone waiting for a reply. Anytime now, her phone will alert her with the special ringtone she had set for Gray and a message from him. Or so she thought for the past _three_ hours.

'_Maybe he's at work?_' she thought to herself. '_Yeah, that's it. Wow, how stupid am I to think he's avoiding me…right?_'

The more she gave herself a mental pep talk, the faster her spirits went down. After sending Gray the text message, she and rest of the girls went out to celebrate at an Italian Restaurant called _La Cena Ristorante_. Which was a great way to stop thinking about a reply, but now that she was home, she was in need of another distraction.

She looked at her phone once more before she sat up and threw it against her pillows. She was really starting to doubt her invitation for coffee. What if he couldn't get coffee tomorrow morning? What if he was avoiding her because she left him hanging last night? What if–!

She shook her head, too many what ifs and not even of the positive kind.

She stared at her ceiling which she had painted to look like the sky on a clear night, stars and constellations were plastered everywhere. The stars were made to glow in the dark because she remembered getting scared of the dark when she was little. Before her painted ceiling, she would either run to her mom and dad's room or Laxus's room. It was mostly Laxus's room because his was the closest, although he did tease her at times and that would result in her running and crying to her parent's room late at night.

She stood up from her bed and went to one of the bookshelves against her wall. She skimmed through the book titles with her finger until she stopped at one she hadn't read in a while. She delicately took it out of the shelf and looked at the cover.

_Cleopatra's Daughter_.

She remembered reading this back in high school on whim, but she had taken an interest in the historical romance novel.

As she took the book back to her bed, she started remembering her favorite scenes from the novel. It was near the end of the story that the scenes took place and the main character realized her feelings. As she flipped the book to the scene, she couldn't help but think of her own feelings.

After sending that text message to Gray, she had come to agreement with herself that she liked him…a lot. Could she be in love with him? She didn't know, she had never really been in love with anyone before – and according to Luna, it was something that differs from person to person. All she knew was that her heart beat faster whenever she talked to him, whether on the phone, through text or face to face. She would feel butterflies in her stomach as well, not the kind that would make her think she would throw up, but the kind that meant excitement, joy and happiness.

Lucy really liked him, she wasn't sure when it all started happening, but she didn't care because as long as she knew how she felt, that was all that mattered. She just wished he would reply back quickly so she didn't have to keep looking for ways to distract herself from the anxiety growing inside of her.

She looked at the clock on her wall.

3:15.

It had only been _fifteen_ minutes since she had last checked the time.

Okay, then time for Plan B.

She grabbed her phone from on top of her pillows and scrolled through her contact's list. She searched for one of her friends that would be able to keep her busy. She thought of Erza, but she wasn't very good when it came to expressing her feelings at times. Next was Levy, but she was on a date with Gajeel if she remembered correctly.

She could call Mira, but she was helping Luna out with picking decorations for the wedding. Evergreen could be a good option, but then again she was at work helping some new restaurant with its interior design. Lisanna was free – but she was taking over Mira's afternoon shift since Mira was with Luna.

She kept looking up and down her contacts.

Natsu was no good either, she remembered him saying something about spending the afternoon with his dad and Romeo. Jellal was out of the question since Mondays were the days he went to the orphanage to spend time with the kids.

The more she scrolled through her contacts, the more she realized she hated Mondays even more than before. Mondays tended to be the day everyone was busy, and that included her. Normally she would be working at the restaurant taking orders and delivering food, but not anymore. She decided to quit her job for more than obvious reasons, as of now she was searching for another job.

Now the smart thing to do would have been to keep her job while searching for another one, but when she quit, she wasn't exactly thinking straight. All she wanted to do was get away from Richard as fast as possible, and that meant leaving behind everything that would remind her of him.

That's when an idea popped into her head.

She stood up and went to her desk and turned on her laptop. Instead of waiting around for Gray's response, she would start applying for another job! Sure, she had actually looked at the jobs before, but she never applied. Now, now she could actually look up jobs and apply. No more waiting around, it was time to get serious.

Plus, it was the only thing she could think of to keep her mind off of her phone.

* * *

Gray couldn't focus on his work.

He had been doing a revision of the cake design to get his mind off of Lucy's text, but he kept messing up.

Whether it was a small detail or a change in color, he couldn't help but let his thoughts wander off to the blonde. This led to starting on a new piece of paper because he had changed the concept of the cake to something completely different, something that seemed to fit Lucy more, something that would probably be seen at their wedding. After the fifth revision of the cake, he decided to clock out.

He wasn't getting anything done and decided to take the original sketch with him home.

When he checked his phone again after getting it from the locker, he could still see it open on Lucy's text message. He bit his tongue, as if it would prevent him from typing a response. He locked his phone once more before putting it in his pocket and leaving through the back door.

In his car, he made sure to keep his mind on the road and constantly changed the radio station whenever he heard a song that reminded him Lucy. It was getting hard to find a station that was not playing any love songs or that weren't taking requests since most of those requests ended up being love songs.

When he got home, he greeted Wendy before going up to his room and locking himself there. He didn't even notice that she wasn't there and that she had decided to spend the day at the beach with Asuka and her friends. He put the sketch of cake on his desk before he threw himself onto his bed.

His mind couldn't help but wander back to Lucy.

He took out his phone and looked at her message from early back in the morning. The more he looked at it, the more his heart raced faster. He put it down and stared at his white ceiling.

It had been a good nine years since they moved from their old home. It was hard to say goodbye, but it had been for the best. It would have taken less time for them to move if it hadn't been for the legal issues concerning Ultear's ability to take care of them. The legal system apparently didn't trust their sister to take care of them, even though she was of age and had been taking care of them for a while, too.

He never understood law or politics, and honestly, he was not going to start now. He turned to his side and looked again at the message.

He liked Lucy. He had come to terms with that, but the thing was, he didn't only like her, he really liked her. He _loved_ her.

He smiled, a goofy grin plastered in his face.

He thought that if he ever admitted his feelings to himself he wouldn't be too happy about it. He would worry, he would frown, he wouldn't be…happy. He thought he would put them in danger if they ever went past the line of friendship, but right now he didn't care about his past. As much as it would loom over his head, he didn't care.

He loved Lucy. He accepted that, and it felt good to accept it. He could finally be able to move past his past. No more looking over his shoulder, no more tenseness around new people, no more self-pity.

He rolled onto his back texted a response.

_-Tomorrow morning it is. How does 9 sound?_

He pressed send and put his phone on top of his chest as he waited for a reply. It didn't take long for his phone to come to life with a message from Lucy.

_-Perfect! :) Café Lumiere?_

He didn't know if the smiley face was intentional or not, but he liked it. He quickly typed in his response and this time he held his phone in his hand.

_-Sounds perfect :)_

_-It's a date then._

He chuckled. Would it be a date? After all, they were meeting up for coffee only, but he didn't care if it was a date or not. He just really wanted to see her and tell her how he felt.

_-A date it is :)_

He didn't know if the smiley face had been a good idea, but by the time he realized this, he had already pressed send. And there was no way of getting that message back. He anxiously waited for her reply. Although it had probably been nothing more than a few seconds, he couldn't help but feel as if time had slowed down to torture him. A soft buzz in his hand brought him back to reality.

_-:)_

Yeah, time was really torturing him. He really wanted to see her now, but he had to settle for tomorrow since that was when they had agreed to meet.

* * *

**O.M.G. guys! **_**Found**_** is really coming to an end. The next chapter will be the last chapter. But, again, do not fret my darlings, there will be a sequel for those of you interested! More information will be posted on the last chapter.**

**Please do not forget to review ^-^**

**~Karie**


	17. Chapter 17: Found

_**Found [found]**_ – (1) a simple past tense and past particle of _*****__**find**_. (2) to set up or establish on a firm basis or for enduring existence. (3) to base or ground – usually followed by _on_ or _upon_.

_*****__**Find [Fahynd]**_ – (1) to come upon by chance; to meet with. (2) to locate, attain, or obtain by search or effort. (3) to locate or recover. (8) to become aware of, or discover – oneself, as being in a condition or location.

* * *

_**Chapter 17**_

Lucy unlocked her phone to look at the time.

8:50 A.M.

She arrived ten minutes earlier than the designated time. She wasn't planning on it, but she couldn't stand waiting at home. She woke up at around 7 A.M. and couldn't find it in herself to take another five minutes of sleep. Her mind was awake and although her body said she had enough sleep, she still felt tired and restless.

She put her phone back into her purse and walked in. The small, urban coffee shop had lights hanging from the ceiling and soft jazz music playing in the background. She loved coming to this café whenever she felt like writing. There was no rush, no stress, nothing that could disturb the serenity of the place. She walked towards the short line to wait and order some breakfast. She took her phone out and checked the time again.

8:52 A.M.

Time was passing by extremely slow, but then again, all good things come to those who wait, right?

* * *

Gray looked at himself again in the mirror to make sure his hair was behaving. Sure, he didn't really care about how it looked, but he at least wanted to make it presentable.

8:54 A.M.

He had six minutes to make it to the café, not that it would take him that long since it was a short drive of around two minutes or so. He looked once more at the mirror before shaking his head and leaving the bathroom. He grabbed his phone from his bed and headed downstairs to grab his keys and leave.

"Well you look handsome," said Ultear as she set down her coffee. "Going to go see Lucy-chan?"

"Yeah, how did you know?" he asked fully aware of his sister's teasing.

"You're no fun to tease this morning," she replied before taking a sip of the bitter drink. "Don't be out too late," she said with a smile as he left out the door.

She looked towards the row of photos lined up against the wall. From her seat, she could see the one with her mother and father smiling. To her, Silver had always been her only father, her biological one had run out on her and her mother.

'_They would be proud of you, Gray,_' Ultear thought to herself as she finished her breakfast.

He was moving on from his past, and that was good. She remembered sometimes staying up late at night wondering when her brother would come home.

When she found out what the real reason was, she didn't know how to react. Was she angry? Yes! Could she do anything about it? Not really…and seeing how broken he was, she didn't want to break him any further.

She got up and cleared the table while humming to herself a soft melody her mother used to sing while she did housework.

* * *

9:12 AM.

He was late.

There was no other way of putting it. Sure it was a measly twelve minutes, but to Gray, they seemed like it had been twenty minutes instead.

For whatever reason, he had decided to get to _Café Lumiere_ using a different route. A route that he had never used before – _ever_ – in his life, but he did it…and he ended up arriving twelve minutes later than the set time.

He opened the door of the small coffee shop and was instantly greeted by the smell of fresh coffee brewing and baked muffins. He was approached a small brunette holding a small notepad in her hands.

"Hello, sir. Would you like a coffee to go or a sit in?" she asked with a smile.

"A sit in, I'll be waiting for someone," he said as his eyes scanned the small area. In an instant he found Lucy, not that she was hard to miss considering her bright, blonde hair stood out in contrast to everything. "Actually, it seems she beat me here."

"All right. Then, what would you like to order?" replied the brunette with the same smile she had greeted him with.

He turned towards the menu board, which was written in colorful chalk colors. "I'll take the Day's Special Brew with a toasted bagel if you wouldn't mind."

"Not at all, sir," she said as she wrote down his order. "I'll take it to your table sir as soon as it's all ready."

"Thank you," he said and waited a couple of minutes until the small brunette left to go approach Lucy.

He could feel his pulse increasing rapidly with each step he took. When he reached her, he found her reading a small book in her hands. He wasn't sure of what the title said and to be honest, he wasn't really paying attention to it. Her appearance like always had caught his eye. She was wearing a blue sleeveless blouse and jean shorts while her hair was tied in a side ponytail.

He cleared his throat lightly. "Mind if I take a seat?"

She looked up from her book and a smile graced her features. "Go ahead," she said as she marked her page with a silver bookmark and put her book away in her brown, leather purse.

A few moments later, the brunette from the front arrived with Gray's order.

"Here you go, sir," she said as she placed his order in front of him.

The two sat quietly after she left, neither knowing how to start off the conversation. He took a sip of his drink while she stirred her tea with a small silver spoon. The two avoided eye contact with one another and it seemed as if time was passing by, but in reality not even a single minute had passed between the two.

She might have been the one that had invited him, but now that he was here, Lucy didn't know what to do or say. She simply kept her hands on her teacup and hoped she would come up with the courage to talk to him.

In front of her, Gray was thinking something similar along those lines. He was here, she was here, so what was stopping him from saying what he wanted to say? Nothing, just the fact that his mind decided to go blank at this very, exact moment, but you know, aside from that nothing else.

He took in a small, deep breath.

"Lucy-"

"Gray-"

The two looked at one another for a brief second before they let out a small chuckle.

"Sorry, go on," said Lucy, glad that he spoke before her.

"You sure?" he asked, his courage fading away slowly.

"Yeah," she said as she put her hands on the table and started playing with the bracelet he bought for her absentmindedly.

'_No going back now_,' he thought.

"Lucy I…I like you," he said looking straight into her brown eyes. He could feel his heart ready to jump out of his chest.

The blonde looked up at him speechlessly.

Did she hear this right, was she imagining things? Without him noticing, she pinched herself.

'_Nope, this is not a dream,_' she thought to herself.

She didn't know what to say, should she say she liked him back? Should she reach across the table and kiss him? Her mind was drawing a blank.

He took her silence as a sign of rejection.

"I'm not saying that you have to like me back," he said looking down at his cup of coffee. "Not that I don't blame you," he continued. "We've known each other only for a couple of months and you don't know anything about me."

She reached to him and grabbed his hand with one of hers. "I know your birthday, your favorite color," she said with a small smile.

"Yes, but Lucy-" he said trying to cut her off.

"-I also know that you care for your sisters very much," she continued as if he never interrupted her. "You love your parents and you're willing to help out a stranger standing in the middle of the rain like a crazy person." He chuckled a little before looking back up at her. "And I know you are willing to do anything for a friend in need," she ended giving his hand a light squeeze. "I guess, what I'm trying to say is," she said taking her other hand and taking his free one in hers as well. "Is that I know exactly what I need to know."

She looked down from his strong gaze to calm down her beating heart for a brief second. "And I also know I like you more than friend, Gray. I don't know when, but I do," she said lower than she wanted to, but hoping he would have heard her.

And he did. He felt like standing up and walking towards her and giving her the biggest kiss ever. But he didn't, public display of affection was something he wasn't exactly good at, and he doubted the people around them would appreciate it as well.

He took back his hands from hers; a flash of hurt crossed her features, only for him to take her small hands into his larger ones.

"Then, Lucy Heartfilia, will you do me the honor of becoming my girlfriend?"

A brief second passed until she breathed out one simple word. "Yes."

Not knowing what else to do to not lose self-control, he brought one of her hands to his lips and kissed the top of it before placing it next to his cheek. He didn't care how cliché or how old fashioned it might seem, but right now, this was all he could do with so many people watching them. Perhaps they weren't even watching them; maybe he just thought they were, either way he didn't care.

He still didn't know how he would bring about his past, but that wasn't important right now. What was important was the young woman in front of him. The young woman who brought back the feelings he thought he had buried deep down and hoped would never rise up because it would mean he had another person he had to worry about losing.

But she was different.

Lucy made him see the positive light in everything. Even when he found her with that bastard, she still pushed herself towards him to stop him from becoming a monster. She was his light, and he was glad he found her, because without her, he would have never been able to move on.

* * *

_**2 Months Later**_

"Come on, Gray," said Lucy with a smile as she tried with all her might to not peak through the blindfold. She was wearing a simple pink cotton shirt, jeans and a pair of white sneakers. "Why can't I see where you're taking me?"

"Because it's a surprise," Gray answered as he parked his car outside the cemetery. He was wearing a light blue shirt, dark pants and a pair of dark shoes.

"Okay, we're here," she stated when she felt the car turn off. "Can I take this off now?" she asked as she lifted her hands to lift the blindfold off her eyes.

"Absolutely not," he said as he stopped her in her tracks. "Only a little more."

She pouted. "Fine," she said. "But for your information, you are ruining my makeup," she huffed.

A small grin spread on his lips as he took off his seatbelt to lean over to her side and kiss her forehead.

"First of all," he said when he pulled away. "You always look amazing. Second," he pulled out his car key from the engine. "You weren't wearing makeup this morning."

He got out of the car and quickly went towards Lucy's side and opened the door for her.

"So you noticed," she said with a small smile as she searched for his offering hand that she knew would be there.

"I always notice," he answered as he guided her out of his car. "I just don't mention it."

A smirk crossed her features before she lightly punched him in the arm.

"Well you should," she said with a teasing tone.

She was about to walk away until she remembered she couldn't exactly see anything.

"So how much longer-?"

"Why so impatient all of a sudden, Heartfilia-san?" he teased as he took her hand and led it to his shoulder for her to hold.

"Because you know I hate surprises, and this is one of them, Fullbuster-san," she replied in the same manner.

"Careful, there are three steps here," he said as he guided her inside.

"Okay," she said looking down. Even though she couldn't really see, she could still picture the steps. "But seriously, give me a hint," she said not giving up on the topic.

"All right, but only one," he said as he thought of something that wouldn't give away were they were. He thought for a moment as they walked deeper and deeper in. "Okay, I have one. You visit this place often."

"I do?"

"You do," he said. "Or at least I think you do."

"How sure are you?"

"Very sure," he replied. "Although, maybe not this exact place, but close enough."

"Hmm," she hummed in thought.

A place she was sure to visit, but perhaps not the one she visits. A restaurant perhaps? No, there was no sound of people walking through nor the smell of food. There was barely a sound and she couldn't smell anything except fresh air and the mix of flowers. Were they at a park? Maybe, but the lack of sound from people told her otherwise. So where were they?

Gray had to stop himself from chuckling as he watched his girlfriend knit her brows together as she thought of places where they might be. He stopped in front of a familiar tombstone and waited until Lucy noticed that they weren't walking anymore.

"Are we there yet?" she asked with the hint of a smile in her voice.

"Yeah," he said as she let of his arm to undo the blindfold. "Let me," he said as he walked behind her.

He took a small deep breath and clenched his hands into fist to prevent them from shaking before turning her to face the graves.

"Lucy," he said as he untied the blindfold. "I'd like for you to meet my parents," he said as he pulled the white material off her eyes. "Moms and Dad, this is Lucy Heartfilia, my girlfriend."

Her breath was taken away from her as she read the names carved beautifully into the marvel headstones adorned with Marigolds and Violas. Lucy turned to him, a bit unsure of what she should do. He simply gave her a small encouraging nod; she gulped a bit of air before turning around to face his family once again and kneeling down to them respectfully. She nervously put her hands together in prayer and greeted them.

"It's nice to meet you," she said, a small smile twitching on her lips. From the corner of her eyes she could see Gray kneeling down next to her, following her example. "You have an amazing son," she said while a small blush tinted her cheeks.

Gray simply reached over and laced their fingers together. "I guess you can see why I asked you wear something comfortable."

She nodded. Her eyes filled with unshed tears of happiness. She knew how close Gray was to his parents, meeting them after only two months, meant that he was letting her know that he was going to make this work, he was going to make _them_ work. And she would gladly help him.

"I guess I should start at the beginning," he said as he turned to his parents, his fingers still intertwined with hers. "I was out buying some ice cream for Wendy when I found her staring at the sky, like an angel wanting to go back to heaven…"

* * *

_**Author's Super Long Note:**_

**It is finally here guys; the final chapter for **_**Found**_** is here. I know, normally my author's notes are not so long, but because I did not want to create an extra chapter and give you guys false hope, I will simply write it here at the end. **

**A special thanks to all my followers for following this story for almost a year, even the new ones, knowing that you guys enjoy this story meant the world to me. Also a special shout out to **_**Amy Kitty Kaz**_**, **_**ShadowyBlu**_**, **_**Alya Starbright**_**, **_**Shizuku Tsukishima749**_**, **_**Ribster777**_**, **_**Kingdom's Oathkeeper**_**, **_**XxX12KeysXxX**_**, **_**SashaMonroe**_**, **_**Lotus-Archer**_** and **_**kat5552**_** for the constant reviews. Every time I saw the reviews you guys posted I felt even more inspired to write thank you so much!**

**Even more to the anonymous guests that left reviews, thank you ^-^.**

**Also another special shout out to those reviews that just made me super happy to know how you felt about the story. Those including but not limiting to: **_**IloveCelestialIce**_**, **_**AttackonKings**_**, **_**gizmo5225**_** and **_**YuukiZero603**_**.**

**For those of you who wanted more information about the lovely sequel:**

_**As Long As I Have You Summary: **_**Gray has finally moved on from his past and he has not regretted it. Lucy makes him so happy, he could just sing. But when an old face from his past comes back to haunt him, will he be able to protect Lucy and keep her safe? Or will she distance herself from him when she learns of his past? It's the sequel to **_**Found**_**.**

**The only downfall to this sequel is that it won't be posted any time before November, sorry guys. But I start school soon and I won't be able to focus on my stories, let alone be able to write a full chapter when I have no idea how much work my professors will give me this semester. I will be working on the chapters, but I will not be posting them before November, again, sorry :(**

**Also, I am still not sure I will be joining GrayLu week this year, unless you guys wouldn't mind a random drabble based on the prompts, then I don't know xD**

**Thank you guys so much for the support, I love you all!**

**~Karie**


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